At 16:25 07/07/01 +0200, Christoph Reuss wrote:
>>
(FW subscriber)
>> > Why do you write so much?
(KH)
>> 'Cos it's too easy to write short messages.
(CR)
>Is it? As in programming, it is *more* difficult to express the same thing
>with less words. Brevity is an art and an expensive asset, especially in
>technical writing. Brief writing takes more time for the writer, but less
>time for the (sophisticated) readers, so the overall time consumption is
>reduced by it. (In other words: too long writing is a sign of contempt
>for one's readers.) It's too easy to "talk much but say little", to babble
>for pages without concise content and structure (as lawyers are famous
>for doing). I'm not saying that Keith does this -- of course, complex
>issues (especially if illustrated with examples) require some length
>to be not oversimplified --, I just wanted to point out that the above
>statement is generally not true. The key is to avoid redundancies. ;-)
You're quite right. It's very difficult to write succinctly -- to render
down an argument or a theory to its bare essentials (as in many of the 500
word articles in Calus).
I wasn't clear enough when I wrote: " 'Cos it's too easy to write short
messages." What I really meant was that it's too easy to write a short
(usually emotive, and sometimes belligerant) comment on somebody else's views.
Keith Hudson
___________________________________________________________________
Keith Hudson, General Editor, Calus <http://www.calus.org>
6 Upper Camden Place, Bath BA1 5HX, England
Tel: +44 1225 312622; Fax: +44 1225 447727;
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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