Thursday, February 24, 2011

Keeping It Short

Okay, writing this is a little awkward. I mean the actual act. A cat insisted on jumping into my lap and now my laptop is balanced off of one knee. Why she is insisting upon having attention now, I don't know. Wait, yes I do. I'm doing something that does not involve cats.

Anyway, I'm here to talk to you (or write at you) about the importance of brevity. The First Crusader Challenge made me think of this because as most of you know, it's required to be under 300 words. When I saw that, I was all "No way! How am I supposed to keep it that short?"

And it really made me think about how a nice quick post tends to be easier to read. As someone who tends to spew words, I think showing a little more restraint might be helpful. I know it's a little late to add to my resolutions list, but I'm doing it anyway. From now on, no more than 300 words per post. And yes, that includes word nerd Wednesdays. I'm sure there will be exceptions, but I'm going to make sure they're only for good reasons.

Thoughts?

12 comments:

  1. Some people need to follow this. I (for the most part) read your posts in full as you are one of my favorite bloggers. It's all about the person. I enjoy your work, so whether it short or long, I'll love it. :)

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  2. I agree. Sometimes, a long post is necessary, but when I scroll through Google Reader, it's the shorter posts that tend to get read in full.

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  3. I like a good short post every once in a while! A variety of short and long (depending on the topic) seems to be best for me to both read and write.

    (I had to laugh about the cat part because as I was reading, my cat was sitting on the couch next to me, rubbing up against my shoulder. They're so needy and don't seem to care what you're doing - they must be involved!)

    Erin @ Quitting My Day Job

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  4. it is good to constrict yourself in different ways - it will improve the quality of your overall writing.

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  5. Sigh... I was thinking the same thing today. But I like long and ramble-y!

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  6. I have the same problem. And I tend to find more people respond to my short posts then my long ones. Imagine that.

    New follower and fellow crusader! Nice to meet you!

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  7. Fun idea!! good idea!!

    If i have too many points i try and stop the post. Publish use remaining points in another post which i publish for another day.

    That way you can help put even spaced content up on your blog:-)

    just what i do to avoid tooooo many long posts.
    (however current writing blog is still new, i did this on an older blog)

    byeee good luck
    happy crusading

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  8. I agree that shorter posts are easier to read. They're easier on the eyes. I try to keep mine less than 1k, but I'm impressed with myself if they're closer to 500 words.

    When cats want attention, they demand it!

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  9. If anyone write a long blog post, I'm impressed. How do people find time?

    For a writer my blog posts are shamefully short. So long or short, I don't mind.

    Hello, by the way, a fellow crusader stopping by.

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  10. LOL. I intentionally made my challenge post really short - most of it was one long sentence broken into free verse, actually!

    Isn't there a saying, "brevity is the soul of...something or other" The end escapes me.

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  11. I have tried really hard to keep my posts under 350 words. I haven't been terribly successful - yet. But I keep trying. You can do it!

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Please validate me.