Succinct Writing

Writers today are taught to write in a clear, crisp manner, using as few words as possible while still staying true to the story and including all the needed information. Writing instructors often use Stephen King's writing as a good example of this. He's known for trimming down his writing to only what's essential. 

This hasn't always been true. Up until the mid-1800s, writers tended to have a flowery, long-winded style. You can see this in many of the early classics. The invention of the telegraph changed all this. Because each letter had to be tapped out with its own code, sending a telegram was expensive. Just twenty words sent from New Orleans to New York cost $5.40, which would be around $150 today.

However, during the Civil War, reporters needed a way to get their stories to their editors quickly, so they used the new invention, but they trimmed their words to the bare minimum. Eventually, this succinct way of writing also filtered down to fiction writers. As people became busier and women joined the workforce, shorter pieces gained in popularity and the call for brevity became stronger. Editors and readers began to insist on it.

So, as with many things, writers must find a balance here. They should write in a clean, concise style while still furnishing all the needed information for the reader. This balancing act is rather subjective, varying, and being interpreted differently by both writers and readers, but we can all see when it goes much too far in either direction.

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