Freelance Writing 335 Lesson One: Brevity

In the spirit of today’s lesson, we’re skipping the introduction and getting right to the point: Writing for class is different than writing for a business.

In academia, you can usually take for granted that your audience is reading your paper with an interest in your conclusion. They won’t stop reading if they see that your paper is 12 pages long.

In business, you can bet that your audience will stop reading once it gets inconvenient. As such, your primary job is to get to the point as quickly as possible. In most cases (blogging can sometimes be a partial exception; we’ll get to that in a later lesson), how eloquently you make your point is of secondary concern to how succinctly you make it. It is important to note that this does NOT mean that how you state your point doesn’t matter (if that were the case, businesses wouldn’t need to hire writers in the first place). It does mean, however, that brevity should never take a backseat.

With any writing you do as a freelancer, ask yourself these questions before writing a draft:

1) How long can I make this without losing my audience?
2) What information is absolutely necessary?
3) What would be nice to include?

Afterward, read your draft, and ask yourself these 2 questions:

1) What (if any) information have I left out?
2) How short can I make this without losing meaning?

The answers aren’t always easy. Removing a clever joke or a nicely written sentence can feel like killing your pet, but a good freelance writer has to be willing to do it. Remember that your job as a freelance writer is not (except in some cases) to be clever or engaging or show the world how smart you are. Your job is to convey the information your client wants to convey as clearly and succinctly as possible.