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Cleaning up writing: by subtracting the obvious we add meaning
The work of reduction must also be carried out on the texts, to say what is needed and only that. By subtracting the obvious we add meaning. The more concise the message, the more important the words it contains will be.
(Yvonne Bindi, Language Design )
Writing to communicate is demanding, writing to communicate your work requires a great deal of flexibility : you need to know when to lengthen a text because you need narrative tension and when to shrink it to help the reader understand, learn, appreciate, choose.
A good text, a text that achieves its goals is a concise text. Which doesn't mean poor and to explain the difference I'll clarify the concept better like this
short ≠ simple ≠ concise
Why:
- “ short ” only tells us about the length (lines, lines, characters, words, etc…)
- “ simple ” speaks only of the register (no strange words, no complications, no English)
- “ concise ” speaks to us of effectiveness, of a perfect relationship between how many words we use and how precise and strong the message they convey is.
Yvonne Bindi, author of the book from which I took the opening quote, dedicates an entire chapter to this topic and to accompany you on the adventurous journey towards simplification I start from her list of rules:
- Reduce : the words must be centered on the concept you want to express; don't be obvious and careless, choose targeted words that give the exact perception of the concept you want to express, possibly with a single word (remember? reduction!)
- Shrink : yes, here we are talking about reducing words; if you can use 2 words instead of 6 to express a concept… well you know what to choose (ex: of a certain importance ➡ important – today ➡ today)
- Hide and organize : these two points combine expressive clarity with graphic dynamism;
- Time : you must respect the time of the reader and you can do this by simplifying the texts (focus on simplicity, clarity, linearity…in short, no sentences within sentences within sentences) and, again, measuring the quantity of words you use; Let me explain: you will read everywhere that a good blogpost is made up of at least 1500 words, well, that's not a blogpost but an episode of stalking! Better to divide such a long text into several episodes without taking your audience hostage
- Learn : How can you explain a complicated concept in a simple way? Using metaphors, i.e. learning to see the various concepts with different eyes, drawing on analogies and similarities
- Differentiate : remember that even simplicity must be dosed so as not to become boring, therefore, after having put the reader at ease by introducing the theme, alternate short, linear sentences with more complex structures, play with the construction of the text and with the narration.
So today I'll leave you with this exercise: take the latest content you've published on your blog, your newsletter and your favorite social network and review it in the light of these tips. What comes out?
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