Everyone asks. They’re all worried that they’re writing too much, or not enough. (Nobody seems to worry that they’re writing exactly the right amount and that someone will be confused or annoyed.) So what’s the answer? How long should a blog post or book or chapter or any written work be? Here’s an analogy which [...]
Strunk and White taught me to omit needless words. How about if we omit needless thoughts as well?
We all make assumptions. In Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, Dr. Robert Cialdini points out their value in a complex society. He also points out many of the dangers of assumption. I find myself assigning greater value to books that have more words in them, to CDs that have more music on them. To longer [...]
anger arguing argument assumption assumptions background books brevity challenges communication embarrassment expectations family fear generosity giving honesty indignation intent intentions joel d canfield Karen Lynn last word lie logic lying manners no passion perception perceptions process psychology punctuation quote reading reality semicolon simplicity sources stress trolls truth writing yes
