all last semester i moaned and wailed about the length of papers. repeatedly i completed papers well under the word count provided by my profs. i attributed my brevity to my journalism background. there i was often confined to 12 or 18 inches. didn’t matter how much great stuff there was to say…if it couldn’t be summed up in thta space it just didn’t get said.
so i got good at figuring out my point, the most compelling argument for said point, and getting it said and printed before deadline.
now all of a sudden i am working in an environment that languishes in words. all of a sudden folks want me to put in every and all details about anything remotely related. and it was driving me crazy.
fast forward to one of my classes this semester.
i have been reading a very information dense book. full of all sorts of interesting concepts that butt up against existing and accepted ones. and my assignment is to do a review of sorts. not a book report, but an analytical look at what was said, not said, and how it all came together.
yeah…in 800 words.
wanna know how short 800 words is…three pages double spaced – roughly. no easy feat.
but i gotta say…between too much and not enough…i think i prefer the too short…keeps my editing skills sharp.