posted originally on OCTOBER 2, 2020

Writing advice from blogger Mike Crittenden, contradicting Monday’s post from Longreads.com, featuring more than 4000 words on the nuances of Marmalade.

by MIKE CRITTENDEN

Write 5x more but write 5x less

There are 2 things I have come to believe about writing:

1. The average person should write 5x more things than they do.
2. The average written thing should be 5x shorter than it is.

See? Write 5x more but write 5x less. Write more often, but make each thing you write shorter.

I don’t care what it is. Blog posts. Novels. Google docs. Articles. Wiki pages. Write more of them, but make them shorter.

Why write more often?

• Because writing helps thinking.
• Because practice will make you better.
• Because writing is more shareable than speaking.
• Because humans are worse than computers at storing knowledge.
• Because writing your old thoughts frees your brain to think of new thoughts.

Why make them shorter?

• Because the shorter it is, the more people will read it.
• Because of the Pareto principle: 80% of the value is in 20% of the length (hence “5x shorter”).

So write more, but write less.

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