Nothing drags down writing more than spreading good ideas over too many words.
Making keystrokes matter has only grown in importance as communication and the text that powers it become increasingly inseparable.
This post originally appeared on theHelp Scout blog.
Many tools we rely on each dayGmail, Slack, Asanawould be empty shells without the words.
Since everyone in the company is responsible for communicating well, everyone is also responsible for writing well.
The importance of this is multiplied when working in aremote culture.
Write to Express, Not to Impress
Communication is a mix of vision and conversation.
What you choose to write is for the use of someone else.
The bloated prose found in academia and legalese is a reminder of whats at stake.
Half the battle with writing is resisting this temptation of the ego.
Stick to being straightforward, trust in plain language, and dont use vocabulary to inflate weak ideas.
Writing that is too wide tries to explain everything but ends up saying nothing.
Part of writing well is deciding where one piece ends and another begins.
If you dont hold the line, youll be dragged around by it.
Temporarily lower your standards for the approach.
Thats a good thing.
Abandon the idea that your first draft should be anything but exploration.
His own shareholder letters are so well written that they are often considered the gold standard for the medium.
If he sees a passage that will confuse her, he knows he hasnt written it properly.
Stephen King suggests the same approach in his bookOn Writing.
Picturing his wife combing through each line, he found himself able to create around reactions.
Where would she become bored, laugh, be surprised, or skim until the story picked up?
He knew the answer because he knew the reader.
John Steinbeck and Kurt Vonnegut have also advocated this approach.
You must open with gusto.
Captivating titles and hooks wont soon lose their ability to move mountains (and millions).
But great writing doesnt just earn attention; it continually re-earns it.
Lose people in the middle and the complete story wont be told.
If your objective and the readers incentive are not obvious within the first few paragraphs, re-write them.
Dress your thoughts well.One of my dads favorite expressions is, Exercise improves everything.
It captures the life-changing transformation that occurred when he took up bodybuilding.
Working out is good for you imitates the brevity but loses the punch.
Often a re-framing is all thats needed to make an accurate statement a timeless one.
Avoid circular and repeated points.In other words, you should just use those other words.
Insight is memorable when it can be embraced directlydont pad itwith essentially, basically, or in other words.
Use the right words the first time.
How you structure a piece matters, as do the words that create the structure.
Youve made a mistake when you start using sub-headings like In Conclusion.
There are far more compelling ways to communicate.
Meandering endings will dilute your message.Its best to approach them quickly.
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Image bymayrum(Shutterstock).
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