Of Course Size Matters...It Matters A Lot

Here’s an interesting exchange of sorts between two of the greatest prose stylists of the 20th Century:

"He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary." ~William Faulkner on Ernest Hemingway

"Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?" ~Hemingway

Faulkner, who was known to have a whiskey bottle in reach while composing his fiction, appeared to be trying to praise Hemingway, albeit offhandedly. But Papa Hemingway, not one of the most genial figures of American literature, obviously viewed Faulkner as a rival not worthy of even left-handed praise.

Cutting through the animosity, I side with Hemingway. Over the years, I’ve based my communications training -- both written and spoken -- on three essentials:

• Brevity is the soul of clarity.
• Write to edify, not to impress.
• Length alienates.

In a world saturated with near-instantaneous electronic messages, I start with the premise that the people you’re writing for are too busy to absorb massive clots of verbiage. I’m talking about numbers of words as well as the length of the words themselves. Any thesaurus can give you a multisyllabic replacement for a lean word that hits the spot. Likewise, any bureaucrat or consultant can pile jargon-choked paragraph on top of ponderous paragraph. But to what end?

In a way that might not have occurred to you, this is really about tone. The best advice I ever got about business writing can be summed up this way: “Be yourself, warm and personal. You’re writing to real people, not an organization.” Another take: “Write as if you’re conversing with an intelligent friend.”

Would that intelligent friend be impressed if you said “come to the decision that” instead of “decide,” or “effect a proper utilization of time” instead of “save time,” or “the business succumbed to failure” instead of “failed,” or “the project achieved a conclusion” instead of “ended,” or “gives consideration to” instead of “consider?” Not likely. (By the way, those are called “smothered verbs.”)

Or how about:

• At this point in time…now
• In the event that…if
• Until such time as…when
• Had occasion to be…were
• Due to (or given) the fact that…because
• For the purpose of…to
• In advance of…before

Do you see the pomposity, however unintended it may be? If that friend with whom you’re conversing is indeed smart, would he or she find greater clarity in verbosity? I doubt it.

I live in Maine, where we honor the memory of longtime resident E.B. White, the renowned children’s author, magazine writer and co-author of the widely used language guide, “The Elements of Style.” Here’s what he said about economy on the written page: “Use the smallest word that does the job.”

Blissfully Blogging Along

http://www.businesscommunications.wordpress.com

I'm finding that a blog makes for a nice, relaxed and stimulating conversation. I’ve been remiss about adding to it lately, but I intend to rectify that. Please join me and react to my meanderings by sounding off on anything touching on business communications and all its promise and pitfalls. I'll continue to share what I know about the news media and how you can gain from press encounters, as well as writing and public speaking for success. You’ll find some duplication between my newsletters and the blog, but I don’t want to give away everything I’ve learned about communication skills. If I did that, how could I make a living as a trainer?

I’ll be in touch again soon.

Dave