As attention spans keep getting shorter, clear and concise writing becomes more and more important. In recent years, people have shown a tendency to ignore and scan any content which does not appear to be written concisely. But what is concise writing? Writing which cannot be any shorter or longer.

But it takes some time to use concise writing to your advantage. Ideally, you want your work to have as many readers as possible to judge its work. If your writing isn't concise, however, you may get some readers who like your work. The majority, however, will scan a sentence or two (this is especially typical online) and then run away to the hills, never to come back.

In contrast, if your writing is concise and interesting, these people will not scan or go away. They will read. Of course their reading it doesn't guarantee your success, but it is one step closer all the same. If your writing subject matter interests the readers and if there is something for them in it, then people tend to stay and think. And, if it is great, possibly spread the word as well.

Words, Words, Words

Use strong, active, concrete writing words when writing description. The stronger the writing, the better the description. Use concrete details—such as the detail about the cold ale trickling down Zara's chest as she gulps sloppily. Nouns and verbs are your friends. Adjectives and adverbs can be your friends, or your enemies, depending on how you use them.

What should you avoid? One of the most important things to keep in mind is that you should avoid the abundance of adjectives and adverbs. So many writers suffer from these writing sins, including me. Some writers are notorious for piling on adjectives. Not to mention adverbs, weak qualifiers such as "somewhat," and so forth. Using them in any part of the story weakens your writing. Using them in your descriptions risks putting the readers to sleep.

I won't tell you, like some other writing guides, to never use adverbs. Sometimes you will need adverbs. Sometimes people speak softly or walk slowly, or quickly. Sometimes saying "He walked slowly down the hall..." is right for the story and saying "He plodded down the hall..." is dead wrong.

Oh, and don't go to the thesaurus too often. Yes, I know, sometimes you need another word for "walked." Still, just because it's in the thesaurus under the entry for "walked," that doesn't mean it's the right word for your story. Besides, sometimes it becomes obvious that certain writers are too in love with their thesauruses. Their characters don't just shout—they exclaim and yell and caterwaul. Enough already!

Fit the Description to the Type of Story

If you're writing an action-oriented romance, too much description will get in the way of the pace. James Bond isn't going to stop in the middle of skiing away from gun-toting spies to ponder the beauty of the Alps. He's going to get away from them.

On the other hand, description will be a more important part of many slower-paced stories. If the book is about a hero coming to his hometown to lick his wounds after a divorce, we want to know what the area looks like and why it's so important to him. Also, a spooky paranormal tale might use description to build up the sense of unease—for example, you might linger on descriptions of dark hallways in the old mansion and hint that there are ghosts there.

Don't Let Description Hang You Up during a First Draft

If you're not comfortable with writing description, don't let it get in your way when you're writing the first draft. Remember, you can always go back and add it later. If you have any critique partners, however, you might want to warn them that your early drafts won't have all of the details built in.

Some Concise Writing Tricks

The first ingredient of concise writing is clarity. If clarity isn't in your writing, then, suffice to say, you're doomed.

Then comes the question of paragraphs. I will not say you should write small paragraphs. That advice only applies to some niches. In other niches, it is perfectly fine to write long paragraphs, although this is only because of the audience. If you want your writing to be appreciated by most people, then the trick is to mix them up. Write a small paragraph. Then write a long one. Write two short ones. Then write a long one. Three short ones. And so on...

Bottom line is: don't get stuck to advice. Yes, there is plenty of great advice on the Web. Some recommends the use of short, simple sentences. I agree with that, because as most of us aren't authors, we don't handle long sentences all that well. But occasionally, you may slip in long sentences as well between short ones. I bet you didn't realize that one of the sentences in the paragraph is a long one. Slipped in naturally and artfully, no one cares.

Try to break up chapters and scenes as often as you can. Remember, there's no such thing as a small chapter, but there is one such as the ridiculously long chapter.

Use grammar and sentence structure to your advantage. You know simple, complex and compound sentences? Well, in your writing, utilize all of them. Don't use all simple sentences in your writing. Same goes with complex and compound ones. Try to use them to jolt the reader into paying attention, by not settling into a preferred sentence structure and instead using all of them. This helps readability and makes writing "sound" nicer.

Have you ever heard of something like "filler" words? If you haven't, let me explain. When we talk, we say words like "really, just, like, actually" (which are adverbs and adjectives) in our speech. Unfortunately, many people slip in these words in their writing.

Which means... cut these filler words from your writing. And then you will feel (and know instantly) that your writing has improved, and you are a better writer.

Lastly, here's a great list of 8 steps to follow for more concise writing by Daily Writing Tips' Mark Nichol:

1. Remove Redundancy

Avoid double-teaming terms like "a period of one week," "end result," "free gift," and "personal opinion." Watch for phrases that echo the quality in question: "oval in shape," "larger in size," "shorter in duration," and the like. Omit redundant words that are already implied as part of an abbreviated term, such as machine in "ATM machine."

2. Reduce Phrases to Words

Replace a descriptive phrase following a noun with a one-word adjective that precedes the noun: "People who are experienced at traveling know better than to label their luggage," for example, can be revised to "Experienced travelers know better than to label their luggage."

A modifying phrase, similarly, can be reduced to a simple adverb: "Sympathizing with her concerns, he nodded in response to her complaint," for instance, is more concisely expressed as "He nodded sympathetically in response to her complaint."

Delete extraneous phrases such as "which is" and "who were," as shown here: "We drove down Lombard Street, which is considered the crookedest street in the world" is easily simplified to "We drove down Lombard Street, considered the crookedest street in the world."

3. Omit Gratuitous Intensifiers and Qualifiers

Use adverbs that intensify or qualify in moderation: "They had an extremely unpleasant experience" isn't accurate unless a subsequent explanation justifies the intensifier extremely, and "I was somewhat taken aback" isn't necessarily an improvement on "I was taken aback."

4. Expunge Expletives

"There are" or "there is" is a weak way to start a sentence. "There is a telling passage toward the end of the story" lacks the focus of (and the more vivid verb in) the sentence "A telling passage occurs near the end of the essay."

5. Negate Nominalizations

"The report gave an analysis of the accident" uses a phrase where a single word suffices. (This is known as a nominalization, or smothering a verb.) When you see a "(verb) a/an (noun)" construction, convert the noun into a verb and replace the phrase with it. In this case, "The report analyzed the accident" is the more concise result. As with deletion of expletives, a stronger verb is an additional benefit.

6. Delete Superfluous Phrases

"At the present time," "for all intents and purposes," and "in the event that" are just a few of many meaningless phrases that clutter sentences. Trim them to tighten your writing.

7. Avoid Cliches

Likewise, "face the music," "litmus test," "tried and true" and other timeworn phrases add nothing to your writing but words; they're useful only for padding a word count, but instructors and editors (and readers) will notice.

8. Eschew Euphemisms

Generally, words that disguise concepts degrade language, which is all about expressing, not repressing, meaning. For example, "collateral damage," in reference to warfare (and, by extension, to all interpersonal relationships), invites derision. However, use of some euphemisms, such as those for human disabilities, is a well-meaning effort to preserve the dignity of the disabled, though some people argue that such cosmetic wording actually harms people by diminishing the seriousness of their condition, or that it is for the benefit not of the disabled but of people who would rather not be reminded of the disabled.

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