Economy
Added 2024-01-14 05:48:50 +0000 UTCWriting economy is an important discipline for any writer. It means choosing your words as carefully as you might take products off the shelf during a broke month. When you're shopping with a few bucks in your pocket, you're thinking about how far each product can go and whether it's really necessary. You should be just as broke with your words.
Writing is always better without clutter. Each word should work hard for its place, so economy is not just about using fewer words. It's about choosing words that have muscle -- Words that say many things all at once. Words with sounds that fit the emotion you're trying to evoke. Words that give readers a visceral experience. Words they can actually SEE and feel.
To write economically, you have to trust the reader to make the right conclusions about your work. Readers are smarter than you think. You don't have to spoon-feed them. They will make more of an economical text than a cluttered one.
Trust is hard-won, but trust me on this: If you're new to writing, economy is probably a problem for you, just as it is for all of us.
