![]() The most important lesson in the writing trade is that any manuscript is improved if you cut away the fat. Words-so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become, in the hands of one who knows how to combine them. The finest words in the world are only vain sounds if you can’t understand them. ![]() Whenever we can make 25 words do the work of 50, we halve the area in which looseness and disorganization can flourish.Īny one who wishes to become a good writer should endeavour, before he allows himself to be tempted by the more showy qualities, to be direct, simple, brief, vigorous, and lucid. You don’t write because you want to say something, you write because you have something to say. The finest language is mostly made up of simple unimposing words. It takes a touch of genius-and a lot of courage-to move in the opposite direction. Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.Īny fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. Works of imagination should be written in very plain language the more purely imaginative they are, the more necessary it is to be plain. Words in prose ought to express the intended meaning if they attract attention to themselves, it is a fault in the very best styles you read page after page without noticing the medium. Every word that is unnecessary only pours over the side of a brimming mind. When you wish to instruct, be brief that men’s minds take in quickly what you say, learn its lesson, and retain it faithfully. Out of intense complexities intense simplicities emerge.īroadly speaking, the short words are the best, and the old words when short are best of all. For me that usually means many, many revisions. largely a matter of application and hard work, or writing and rewriting endlessly until you are satisfied that you have said what you want to say as clearly and simply as possible. ![]() King Charles XII of Sweden, commanding his troops in Eastern Europe, 1713 His Majesty the King requires that the Royal Chancellery in all written documents endeavor to write in clear, plain Swedish. I believe more in the scissors than I do in the pencil. To simplify complications is the first essential of success. What stuff it all is! Have something to say, and say it as clearly as you can. Let thy speech be short, comprehending much in a few words. Many famous writers, politicians, and others have commented over the centuries on the importance of writing clearly and briefly. Tips for starting a plain language program.
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