Introduction
The importance of clear and concise writing cannot be overstated. Although clarity and conciseness are words that are often used together and sometimes interchangeably, there is a fundamental difference between them. Clarity means writing in a way that is easy to understand. Writing clearly entails presenting information so that readers understand exactly what the author intends. On the other hand, conciseness means conveying a message using only the necessary words. Being concise means being mindful of one’s choice of words. It is important to be clear and concise in writing to make text easy to understand, hold the reader’s attention, and save time.
Discussion
One reason why writers should strive to write clearly and concisely is to produce understandable material. A writer’s communication style affects the understandability of a text. It is essential to note that the manner in which a message is formulated influences the way it is received (Holmberg & Sperlich, 2021). When an author’s writing is dense, it becomes difficult for readers to absorb. For instance, using complex sentence structure when writing to a general audience makes a text incomprehensible. Additionally, using many unnecessary words diminishes the impact of the more important words. Such text is likely to be dismissed by the audience as superfluous. For instance, when students are excessively wordy in their essays, teachers assume that they are simply trying to hit the word count. In general, writers should communicate as clearly and concisely as possible to enhance audience understanding.
Besides making the text easy to understand, clarity and conciseness in writing hold the reader’s attention. A person may start to read a piece of writing but quickly abandon it if they find it dense or verbose. Unclear writing easily loses the audience’s attention because the text becomes difficult to read. Similarly, long-winded setups and irrelevant details could easily become annoying to readers who simply want to get to the point of a piece of writing (Hotaling, 2020). For instance, some readers fail to finish novels that are included unnecessarily lengthy descriptions that do not add to the plot of the story. Other readers have short attention spans that cannot sustain prolonged periods of reading dense or redundant texts. Therefore, to keep the audience interested, writing should be clear and concise.
Another reason for maintaining clarity and conciseness in writing is to save time. Time is a precious resource for both writers and readers. Unclear or wordy messages waste the time of the writer as well as the readers. Time spent writing unnecessarily long messages could otherwise have been spent proofreading the texts and making them more palatable to readers. Similarly, succinct writing saves time for readers as they are able to quickly make sense of a piece of literature. Ranaut (2018) comments that conciseness is necessary in business writing so that workers can be productive. Unclear writing forces the audience to waste time asking for clarification or further instructions. Writing should be done clearly and efficiently to avoid time wastage.
Conclusion
In summary, clarity and conciseness are integral components of writing. Regardless of the target audience of a piece of writing, writers must recognize the importance of efficient word choice. Writing style affects the way a message is understood, and writers must be conscious of the words they use and how they use them. The mark of a good writer is one who can communicate succinctly.
References
Holmberg, H. C., & Sperlich, B. (2021). Some personal advice concerning how to write precise, concise and eloquent research articles. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 3, 648929.
Hotaling, S. (2020). Simple rules for concise scientific writing. Limnology and Oceanography Letters, 5(6), 379-383.
Ranaut, B. (2018). Importance of good business writing skills. International Journal of Language and Linguistics, 5(2), 32-41.