Before we write something we ask “How many words should it be?”
The amount of words used in writing should be based on your writing objective. Some styles of writing require more words, while other require less. Business writing has a different structure than greeting card or Twitter writing.
When I was a member board of directors of the Independent Writers of Southern California, many writers thought it took a longer time to write short pieces than long stories. They were correct.
Short shorts take longer to write because the necessary words have to be cut away, like a sculptor cuts away the the marble to find the statue.
We often see websites that are written for SEO and are so overblown and obese with words, they are almost impossible to understand. Readers like short chunks of information, served up in a light and meaningful way.
The ancient art of Haiku makes use of as little words as possible to create a whole scene, feeling and story. Reading these poems today still make us laugh or cry because it pulled the very essence of the matter into the Haiku.
All good writing should be like Haiku, even if it is an 80 page white paper. Words can convey a rainbow of points, philosophies and customer engagement.
It’s not only the amount of words that makes good writing but also the choice of words in the body and title. As you see in the title of this post, we used many puns. Good writers play with words to draw you into the writing.