I’ve put together my top five tips for writing shorter copy. They’ll help you minimize the amount you write yet maximize the quality.
I’m sometimes asked how much I’d charge for writing, say, 1,000 words. But here’s the thing: copy should never be priced according to quantity but on the time and effort and experience required to create something worth reading. Quite often the shorter the copy, the better.
But writing this way isn’t easy, so I hope these few pearls may help.
1. Lose unnecessary words The point of being brief is not to say less, it’s to say more – effectively and concisely. Think of it not so much as writing shorter copy but leaner copy.
Hemingway’s six-word ‘Baby shoes’ story is a perfect example (never mind that it’s now thought he didn’t write it). In fact, I confess that I’m just terrible at always including some unnecessary words. I go back over what I’ve written and cut out the dead wood.
Er, hang on. Let’s rewind …
I confess I’m terrible at including unnecessary words.
Edit and edit again. Hack away at the extra bits until the key details are clear. Challenge yourself to cut your copy by half.
2. Use more full stops Long sentences can end up looking like muddled thoughts. Full stops help you package sentences into neatly contained thoughts. Aim for no more than 15-20 words in your sentence and vary the length.
A sentence can even be just one word. Why? Because people will be more likely to read copy if you keep it short. They’re time-poor: the average human attention span is 8.25 seconds.
(If you use the WordPress plugin, Yoast SEO, you’ll know how brilliant it is at analyzing a blog post’s readability and guiding you on how good the length of your paragraphs and sentences are.)
3.Use more paragraphs Aim for one idea per paragraph. Paragraphs can carry a lot of information, but your reader cannot. So edit every paragraph to have just one thought. (Apple is really good at doing this.)
Copywriters often only use one sentence per paragraph.
It’s overdone.
It can make the copy look disjointed.
But it can also drive home key points very effectively.
What do you think?
4. Start sentences with connecting words For instance, ‘however’, ‘but’, ‘so’ – they’re a good way of indicating a shift in direction. Just don’t stick them together in the same sentence.
And let’s not forget the debatable use of ‘and’. My waterstained and beloved 1982 version of Usage and Abusage. A guide to good English preaches ‘In general, avoid beginning a sentence with ‘and’: its use is justified only when a very effective addition is desired or when an arresting accumulation is to be concluded.’
I might not start a sentence with ‘and’ in a letter to my accountant. But bring on those effective additions otherwise. And those arresting accumulations.
5. Create a list instead Listing a few bullet points is a great way to organize information and let people skim through it to instantly grasp what’s what.
Instead of:
Your weekend break includes two nights’ accommodation in a double room, breakfast and dinner as half board, full use of the hotel gym facilities, and a late check-out.
How about:
Your weekend break includes:
two nights in a double room
breakfast and dinner
use of the hotel gym
a late check-out.
Numbered lists are perfect for giving sequential steps.
Great style knows no convention. But the art of persuasion does … and there’s more than one way to skin a cat.
Written by Kelsey McCartney, freelance copywriter. Full stop.