Write Tight(er)—Part 2—STC14 Summit

Write Tight (er)

Marcia Riefer Johnston@MarciaRJohnston

#STC14

Part 2: Using the Technique

#STC14 @MarciaRJohnston Write Tight(er) HowToWriteEverything.com

YOUR WORDS

HERE

http://HowToWriteEverything.com


weak be-verbs (is, was, were, will be, have been, am, are) -ly words (& other vapid adverbs) very, such, so (& other empty intensifiers) not, no (& other negative words) the fact that just begin to, try to, tend to, in order to period of time in light of, in spite of, in terms of (& of in general) proverbial different (as in many different, 36 different) particular verbiage any other verbiage or unneeded words that you can pitch

Dump these words!**unless you need them





Word count

Cost to translate into 1 language 25 languages

x 10,000 sentences

(Harry Potter novel)

BEFORE Your original text here with more words than you need. 10 $2.50 $62.50 $625,000.00

AFTER Your tighter text here. 4 $1.00 $25.00 $250,000.00Savings 60% $1.50 $37.50 $375,000.00

Spreadsheet available on request.

























Story time



Story time

Water dispenser



Story time

Water dispenser

Buttons



Story time

Water dispenser

Buttons

Quick reference



Looks easy enough.



Concise = good ... right?



Ready for a video?



Ready for a video?(You’ll have to pretend.)



Hey, Rick, would you bring me a glass of room-temperature water?




Rick (Smart guy!)




GlassRick (Smart guy!)





Instructions





Instructions Button





Instructions Button Water




DumpGlassRick (Smart guy!)







Read again






Read again Exasperation






Read again Exasperation Try again






Read again Exasperation Try again Try again




Dump again



Read again Exasperation Try again Try again




Dump again



Read again Exasperation Try again Try again Try again







If conciseness doesn’t fix it, change what you’re saying. @MarciaRJohnston #STC14





For more on concise writing and much, much more










powerful




powerful




“I’ve longed for a book on writing to recommend to clients and colleagues … and this is it!”—Kristina Halvorson

powerful




#spectrum14 Write Tight(er) HowToWriteEverything.com @MarciaRJohnston

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Write Tight(er)—Part 2—STC14 Summit