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All Killer, No Filler: 6 Simple Tips for Concise Writing

All Killer, No Filler: 6 Simple Tips for Concise Writing

Brevity is the whatsit of thing.

You know the one I mean. Wit. Source. Other way around.

And conciseness, well, it’s similar only more important.

Conciseness is a skill that not enough bloggers take the time to develop. One that, if you demonstrate you’ve mastered it, will win you plenty of work even when other bloggers struggle to get hired.

It isn’t mere brevity. It isn’t only clarity. It’s a special, sparkling combination of the two that gives exactly the amount of information the reader needs, as briefly as possible without sacrificing any important details.

Say you have 500 words to write. You could write 500 smart, well-chosen words and make everyone (your readers, your clients, your editors, your bank) very happy. Or you could dish up 150 of the good stuff surrounded by 350 of fluff and redundancy.

A 3000-word epic blog post is still concise if every one of those words serves a purpose. Length is not the measure of conciseness. Value is. 

All Killer, No Filler: How to Write ConciselyWhy do writers “waffle”?

If you’re paid per word, per page or per article, then you can output more billable words in less time by making some of those words pointless filler than by carefully researching your topic and using every word to inform and entertain.

The trouble with the waffle approach is that although you may make more money in the short term, you’ll make less of everything else: less sense; less of a contribution to the spread of clear and valid information; less of a reputation for quality writing; less of a good impression on the people who pay your wages (whether that’s your boss, your client, fee-paying members or an ad-clicking readership).

And that means, in the long term, you make less money, too.

Here are 6 simple ways to make your writing more concise:

#1: Have a Point

Don’t write without something to say. There’s little worse than a long-winded blog post that winds around several topics without ever settling on a direction. Decide on your objective for each post before you write, then target every word to achieve that objective.

#2: Stop Being Verbs

Every time you say “we were meant to be going” or “you want to be making a difference”, stop for a moment and consider: would it do any harm to shorten that up a bit? “We meant to go”, say, or “you want to make a difference”?

#3: Don’t Say This Is Your Opinion. Just Say Your Opinion.

When you write “I really think that…” or “in my opinion” or “I’ve come to the conclusion that…”, you’re wasting everybody’s time. Your readers assume that the opinions you’re expressing are yours, unless you say otherwise.

#4: Skip the Needle Off the Record

You know all that essay-writing stuff they teach you at school about your introduction and conclusion? “Tell them what you’re about to tell them, then tell them, then tell them what you just told them”, or something along those lines?

Ain’t nobody got time for that.

Those old rules of repetition do not apply in blogging. Your introduction doesn’t outline what you’re about to say; it outlines why people should care to keep reading. Your conclusion doesn’t summarise your argument; it summarises what you want people to do about it.

And that part in the middle? Just tell them what they need to know. Once. With empathy and enthusiasm.

#5: Know What You Mean

Because if you don’t know precisely what you mean, I sure as hell don’t know either. You can’t explain something you don’t understand, so make sure you’ve got your idea, your angle and your arguments clear in your mind before you begin.

#6: Need It or Skip It

Every time you add to your post, ask yourself: does your reader truly need this piece of information? Will it make their life better to know this, or will it merely add to the stack of information they know but never use? If it won’t add to your reader’s experience, don’t add it to your post.

There you have them. 6 simple ways to cut the crap and polish your blog posts to a fine finish. Apply the same principles in your queries and proposals to impress potential clients, too.

Conciseness separates the brilliant bloggers from the average.

It’s your secret weapon. Use it wisely and well.

Now let’s see you practise it in the comments!

Image: D Shannon Pruitt

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Comments

  4. This post would make a great resource poster to print out or for future subscribers to download. Just a thought.

    Reply

  5. Awesome post Sophie! Coming from academia into freelance, I’m so stinkin’ relieved to be able to write concisely instead of ‘until I reach 20 pages.’ Thanks for the great steps to consider!

    Reply

  7. I totally need this- my articles(and regular conversations) can be a bit winding.. But practising to “get to the point.” Thanks Sophie!

    Reply

    • You’re welcome, Donna. The easiest way to do it is to outline what you want to say, write it without worrying about conciseness, then go back and edit it afterward to tighten it up. Once you’re used to doing that, you’ll start to be more concise in your first draft without really thinking about it.

      Reply

      • Thank you for the look in the mirror!

        I broke out of my wallflower shell in high school and some would say I haven’t stopped talking since. I have always enjoyed writing so I use it to curb my need to vocalize my every thought. I have wanted to write professionally my entire life and am researching ways to work from home using my talents and skills; However, I have no real professional experience. I cannot provide anything tangible to prove my abilities, aside from a pathetic blog I started about infertility and child loss when I was wallowing in self pity and some articles I wrote free of charge to promote some fund raisers in my hometown newspaper.

        As I continue to research work-from-home opportunities I am continually drawn to information about blogging and freelance writing jobs. This article will certainly help me in my endeavors, but I am skeptical of my ability to earn what I need to make ends meet. As I have learned over and over in my journey, the best value is always found in good research and asking lots of questions, which takes time; Therefore, I am still working as an assistant in a medical office full-time while I try to find some real leads and direction toward my dream job.

        Thank you for this article. I have already saved it to my computer for future reference. Wish me luck!

        Reply

        • Hi, Crystal!

          I wouldn’t put down your personal Blog or the articles you wrote in your hometown’s paper. I got my first major writing gig thanks to my personal blog! I was just writing silly day-to-day stuff about my life, but it showed that I could a.) update on a schedule and, b.) make boring topics (my life heh heh) seem interesting–proof of my writing capabilities! And even though your newspaper articles were done for free, they still count as clips.

          Every writer has to start SOMEwhere. Writing is writing. Even if they weren’t for your “dream” clients/outlets, your samples still “count” in the big scheme of things. 🙂

          Glad you enjoyed this post. Thanks for commenting!

          Reply

  8. Conciseness blends the brevity and efficiency of Sparta with
    the clarity and quality of Waterford crystal. Straight to the
    point, clear as a bell, stimulating to the mind, yet pleasing
    to the eyes.

    The word “laconic” comes to mind. Those who say the most
    with the least are the best writers – and the most widely read.

    How’d I do, Sophie??? 🙂

    Reply

  9. YES. The trouble is — as one commenter already mentioned — school teaches us the opposite. Write to 5 pages, or 20 pages, and no skipping lines to make your paper look longer. We teach students to write fluff. All the best writing professors I had told me to write “as much as you need to make your point.” Less is almost always more.

    I love your outline of a good blog post here, too. That may be the best outline I’ve ever seen of how to write a good post — and look how short it is!

    Reply

    • You are right Lisa. Actually brevity helps ringing a bell in the mind of the reader and he gets exactly what you want to say but when the content gets contaminated with fluffy words the weight of the very important points in the article gets diluted and leave an average impression on the mind of the reader.

      I do also agree with SOPHIE that “A 3000-word epic blog post is still concise if every one of those words serves a purpose. Length is not the measure of conciseness. Value is. ”

      Thanks Sophie for sharing such a valuable post.

      Reply

    • I was considered gifted at school largely because of my ability to waffle in a swallowed-a-thesaurus kind of way… academia doesn’t prepare you well for a life of online writing!

      Reply

    • Thanks for commenting, Lisa! I agree. Or, to quote Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland: “Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end; then stop.” The King may not have had the nicest wife (the Queen of Hearts), but he knew the essence of concise storytelling.

      Reply

  12. Seriously, brevity is a problem for me. If there is a maximum word count, I go way over and then labor over what to cut, agonizing over each and every word deleted. I’m a work in progress. Sometimes, I try to write a short post just so people don’t get bored with the consistent lengthiness of my blog posts. However, people who have very short posts consistently bug me as well. I need more meat!

    Reply

    • Cindy there is nothing wrong for expecting or offering extra meat. And don’t worry at all because this is the problem that most of the writer faces while they write. Yes, we should always put a good effort to keep the matter concise to keep up the weight of the article without diluting it.

      The best part of your problem is that you are getting up with lot of ideas or have lots of info on the topic to share and that is why you are facing the problem to keep it concise.

      Don’t worry much about it, this is a good sign. There are lots of writer, who are facing scarcity of ideas and fail to write or express in their content. But as you have mentioned that you are deliberately working on the issue, you will definitely come up with positive results soon

      Reply

    • Sometimes a post needs to be long. Other times, if it’s way over word count, that’s a clue that you might be covering more than one topic–and if you figure out where to split it you can make 2 posts out of one. More posts = more pay, so that’s a win!

      Reply

    • It’s one of those things that’s drilled into us for so long–the idea that to be clear, you have to repeat yourself. Thing is, if people can’t see why they should care then they won’t read the whole thing anyway, so the repetition will be pointless.
      Blog readers have short attention spans and a healthy self-interest, so showing them why the post’s going to be important to them is the best way to keep them reading. 😉

      Reply

  18. Its a nice list and some good advice but its tempted to break the mindset and follow the less is more approach, and turn in a 300 word article when a 1,000 could’ve been squeezed out of the gig.

    Reply

    • If you have to squeeze to get 1000 words out, you’ll give yourself the writing equivalent of a prolapse. 😉 Better if you’ve got 1000 words’ worth of content to communicate.

      Reply

  19. Last point; Need it or Skip – it is wonderful you have to be definite about the purpose of your post and instead of moulding it again and again you just drop it and think for another one

    Reply

  21. Nicely put Sophie!
    Sometimes I sit bang my head against the desk because of the people AND businesses who think blogging, blogs and web writing is the same as traditional writing. And they wonder why their blogs suck? It’s like reading while running the hurdles. Bursts and jumps and sprints. OH MY! One day they’ll get it. Until then, I’m investing in a helmet…LOL

    Reply

    • Investing in a helmet sounds like it might be a good idea! Though, if it’s a sturdy enough helmet, you might have to invest in a new desk as well! 😉

      Blog/web writing certainly is different than traditional writing. But it’s best to not worry too much about what others are doing–just focus on making your OWN business the best it can be. There’s less head-banging involved that way. Haha!

      Thanks for commenting!

      Reply

  29. Great post! I really always hated the “Tell them what you’re about to tell them, then tell them, then tell them what you just told them.”

    Reply

    • I think a lot of that was trying to appease the old rules of SEO writing–a lot of filler was needed to meet word count. But now that Google is favoring quality over quantity, we’re getting a fresh chance to fine-tune our writing. 🙂

      Thanks for commenting!

      Reply

  31. Don’t think twice
    Be concise
    Conveying clarity
    Quite a rarity
    Employ brevity
    Gain longevity

    Reply

  32. Great post and very helpful. I tend to be a “Chatty Cathy” (just like my name!) ha ha. I am working on avoiding #2 and #4. This gives me hope that I can perfect my post to meet the desired quality.

    Reply

  33. Heh, I like this post especially the part about forgetting the essay writing method we were taught in school. It was drilled in our heads that the ‘ this is what I will say – this is what I am saying- this is what I said’ way is the way to go.

    All valid points, love it.

    Reply

  36. A great example of measuring your level of conciseness is when you’re in a conversation or forum, you sprout off 500 words on something, and someone comes along and says the same exact thing as you… with one sentence.

    I usually laugh and think to myself, “I need to work on that.”

    It’s along the lines of the phrase “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Try to make your sentences resemble a picture.

    Reply

  37. Hello Sophie and blogging community. I’m new to blogging as a career, yet started blogging in college.
    I love how you, Sophie, take the time to assist us to become bloggers.
    I see it as a work in progress. The more I read, the more I learn.
    Thanks again.
    Hanunah (haa noo nah)

    Reply

  39. I have been blogging from 1 year and struggled a little to write a good post in my initial days. I am a better writer now but with the help of the tips you provided, I can be more than better. Thanks for this article.

    Reply

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