Writing Grit: Why You Should "Write Short"

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We've been warned about our shrinking attention spans for years. "Kids these days can't pay attention for more than a few minutes," say the adults. "You only have seconds to grab your audience's attention!" shout the advertisers. Even a Microsoft survey of Canadian media consumption backs this up, claiming that our attention spans have dropped from 12 seconds in 2000, to eight seconds in 2016. All the more reason to purchase more flash-ads, as Timothy Egan points out.

Arguably, it's harder to catch attention these days because most people intentionally and constantly bombard themselves with information. We can try to pass the buck to social media, or marketers, or the poor parenting of our future generations, but the truth is we do this to ourselves. Don't believe me? When is the last time you've read the back of a shampoo bottle? Most people can't even use the bathroom these days without scrolling on their phone.

But there's a big difference between catching someone's attention and holding that attention. And if you catch someone's attention, and provide them with information that they're actually interested in, they'll stick with you to the end. People still read novels. They still binge watch series on Netflix. They still sit at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee and stare absently into the abyss.

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They can still pay attention when they want to.

So what does this mean to you as a writer? It means that first, you need to be able to grab your readers' attention. On Steemit, this means you need a solid title and an interesting photo.

But second, and equally important, you need to be able to hold their attention. And you can do this by "writing short."

What does "writing short" mean?

When I say "write short," I don't mean that you need to cut your 2000 word essay down to a couple of paragraphs, or reduce your novel to a novella. Writing short isn't about length. It's about word choice. It's about ensuring that every word you use serves a purpose: it sets the tone; it informs; and above all, it moves your writing forward.

If a word, phrase, sentence or paragraph doesn't serve a purpose, then it must go. It doesn't matter how eloquent or clever it is, if it doesn't drive your story forward, then you must pull out the axe and chop it.

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Because these are the words that your reader will skip over. These are the words that will cause your reader to close the book or click to a different screen. These are the words that will lose their attention.

You don't need to spend paragraphs describing a tree that your character happens to walk past, unless that tree somehow affects the direction of your story. You don't need to add pretty similes and metaphors to explain things your reader will already understand (i.e. the room was quiet as a mouse). You don't need lengthy phrases when shorter words will do, unless that phrase is needed to set the tone. Instead of writing 'in the event that', use 'if'. Instead of 'at the time of', use 'when' -- unless, say, you're writing dialogue for an overly formal, uptight character.

If you prefer to take a stream of consciousness approach to your writing, that's fine. But keep in mind that writing short doesn't mean that your writing can't be conversational or relaxed. It just means being intentional about your word choice and ensuring that the words you do use match your desired tone.

If you enjoyed this post, please resteem, upvote and, of course, follow @redhens. Here are a few other posts you might enjoy:

General interest:

• Tree Tuesday: Inspired by Nature
• The world's saddest onions
• All I want for my birthday is a resteem

Writing Grit series:

• The 5 Cs of Good Communication

RedHens Writing Advice video series:

• Life Lessons and Books
• Making Time and Space to Write