Keep it short

Writing a short post is harder than writing a long blog post.

I’ve written a post a day for the past 5 days, and each day I started out writing what I thought would be a very short post. Yet my shortest post still has a 4 minute reading time according to Medium. I want to improve this.

There’s something poetic about being able to write an article in just a few paragraphs, and still make your point. It makes for much better writing. It works especially well on the Internet in an age when a reader’s attention is a premium commodity.

However, keeping it short requires serious editing. It also requires a very focused understanding of the point you are trying to make.

Woodrow Wilson was once asked how long it takes him to write a speech. His response:

“That depends on the length of the speech. If it is a ten-minute speech it takes me all of two weeks to prepare it; if it is a half-hour speech it takes me a week; if I can talk as long as I want to it requires no preparation at all. I am ready now.”

When you keep it short, it shows respect for your readers, and shows that you value their time.

Make your point and move on.

This is the sixth article in the series of my 30-day writing challenge. If you liked this article then click that big fat ❤ to give me some extra strength to keep going.

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David is the co-founder of Hacking UI and the creator of The Side Project Accelerator. He spends his time writing code, writing articles and hosting a podcast.