One of the most famous phrases about writing belongs to the third president of the United States and the author of the Declaration of Independence Thomas Jefferson. In his letter to Bernard Moore contemplating about the students’ abilities development he wrote, “The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do” (Krieger 115). Although he was talking about the law and the process of studying the case, these words are nonetheless relevant to the art of writing in general. The ability to express one’s thoughts as precisely as possible enables any writer to reach the ultimate goal of conveying information to the reader in the most efficient manner, despite the likely loss of some of the details.
The occupation of writing may have multiple objectives. One could write to express feelings and to transfer them onto the paper; another could write to keep something out of oblivion; it could be even done to influence someone else’s opinion. But the primary goal of writing is to collect, save and communicate the information to other people. This task may seem easy at first sight, but there are still serious challenges in the process of writing.
What should be selected and what should be omitted? How should the subject be portrayed? What issues are there with leaving something in or leaving something out? Every writer is well familiar with these questions. Some writers believe that the more words, the better, but the abundance of words doesn’t necessarily create more meaning. “Wordiness is arguably the biggest obstacle to clear writing and speaking,” is noted in the book “To the Point: A Dictionary of Concise Writing” (Fiske 3). The author claims the wordiness to be the biggest obstacle to self-knowledge and success.
On the other hand, the scarcity of words inevitably leads to the loss of the text meaning. The human mind has a wonderful feature of filling out the missing pieces of information: if something is not stated precisely, the reader will assume his or her own sense based on the experience, views, or imagination. The reader would perceive what he or she is inclined to perceive despite the writer’s intention. According to Kallan, “Conciseness usually results in greater clarity because it strips away unnecessary and misleading verbiage; correspondingly, the desire to achieve clarity often induces conciseness” (20). That is why it is critical not to pursue the reduction of wordiness exclusively but to choose the most appropriate words to express the idea instead. Such a task could be accomplished by exploring the language vocabulary and studying the etymology and usage of the English words.
Regarding creative writing, being concise is the most effective way to activate the reader’s imagination, and to invite the reader on the journey through the world created by his or her mind. Conciseness leaves the reader with the clear description of the structure of the world he or she should create. Explicit instructions embedded in the writer’s words are crucial to the job performed by the reader. Hence the art of being concise ultimately brings both the writer and the reader into the world they are jointly creating. Whether they appear in the same world depends on the words have been used: one word – the right word – is always better than the two wrong ones.
Works Cited
Fiske, Robert Hartwell. To the Point: A Dictionary of Concise Writing. W. W. Norton & Company, 2014.
Kallan, Richard. Renovating Your Writing: Shaping Ideas and Arguments Into Clear, Concise, and Compelling Messages. Taylor & Francis, 2017.
Krieger, Richard Alan. Civilization’s Quotations: Life’s Ideal. Algora Publishing, 2007.