Writing well is being succinct

In his article Writing Well, Julian Shapiro demonstrates how our writing improves when we eliminate extra words.

He uses the following paragraph as an example:

“To be brief on the sentence-level, you should remove filler words that don’t add necessary context to the sentence. This isn’t intuitive to novice writers: extra words cause readers to unwittingly slow down and do extra work while reading. That makes it harder for them to recognize the sentence’s true point. Reading many extra words is also a chore for your brain. And when you exhaust readers, they quit reading.”

And then he re-writes the paragraph with the unnecessary words removed:

“To be brief on the sentence-level, remove words that don’t add necessary context. Extra words cause readers to slow down and do extra work. That makes it harder for them to recognize the sentence’s point. And when you exhaust readers, they quit reading.”

Consider how this lesson applies to our emails at work.

1. Succinct emails save time

Don’t bury the main point of your email in the third paragraph. Instead, state your question, conclusion or recommendation in the first sentence (see BLUF). Get straight to the point and let your audience decide whether or not they need to read the rest.

2. Succinct emails facilitate faster decision making by removing ambiguity

Short, simple sentences are more persuasive when they’re easy to read and understand. Anything extra only dilutes and distracts from the main objective. A concise, well-structured email clarifies the next steps.

Learning how to write well isn’t just for authors and amateur bloggers. Clear, persuasive communication is the hallmark of an effective leader.

The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.

Thomas Jefferson