One slippery slope: Don’t let unlimited online posting palettes make you a sloppy writer

Hammered hard into my head during journalism school was the Write Tight mantra.

Back then paper didn’t stretch; the online world didn’t exist. So your story had to fit the space on the page.

Only seven column inches? Then maybe you had 250 words. Not 300 words. Not 350 words. Just 250. So Write Tight and Make it Fit.

Copyfitting was – and still is – an art. But now that The Sky’s the Limit online, are we getting sloppier as writers?

Could be. When writing and editing a client’s 10,000-word company magazine, I’m reminded about the exquisite discipline of print: You can’t stretch the paper. So Write Tight and Make it Fit.

Every time my prose spills off a printed page in progress, my designer throws a proof back over the wall with one request: Cuts Needed to Make it Fit.

And every time I prune – (and prune, and prune again) – my prose is better.

Every time.

Want to avoid that slippery slope of The Sky’s the Limit when you write and post online? Here’s how:

Assign a word count to every post before you write. Your readers are busy, so ask yourself: How much time do my readers really need to spend on this topic? Respect their time. Stick to a limit.
Write your post from start to finish. Don’t stop!
Rewrite and edit your first draft electronically (it’s likely well beyond your word-count limit). Be ruthless! (How about that sentence? You said it in 15 words. But could you say it in 10? How about eight?)Challenge every paragraph, every sentence, every word. Don’t let yourself off the hook. Keep going until you can’t anymore.
Print your second draft and read it aloud (it’s likely closer to your word-count limit). By engaging your sense of hearing, you can squeeze more words out of a bloated sentence or two.Now: Is your post still longer than your limit?
Let it sit for an hour or two. Then read it aloud again. This time you’ll hear it differently and find more ways to prune and polish.

Why bother with all this discipline?

If you think The Sky’s the Limit online, your writing is bound to get sloppier. Guaranteed.

And when it does?

Your readers won’t make it past your first paragraph or two.

And if you lose readers, what’s the point of writing and posting in the first place?