Sunday, May 25, 2008

detailed vs. concise writing

I do wonder if I will ever learn to write concisely.  I've always written articles that are detailed and peppered with adjectives just so I would clearly be understood.  I don't really know if this is a form of insecurity brought about by my long history of being misunderstood, but every time I set out to put an idea into words, I always end up writing more lines that I originally expected.

If you look at my blog and review entries so far, you'd see what I'm talking about.  In particular I realized the gravity of the situation when I got to compare my 10-paragraph review of Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull vis-a-vis a friend's 1-sentence review of the same movie.  It makes me think - will anyone ever read my review?  If people get curious about the titles of my blog entries, will they ever read beyond the 2nd paragraph?

It's funny but when I was a lot younger, I used to flunk writing exercises because I didn't see the point in adding more elaborate details after I have already expressed a certain idea.

My English teachers must be proud.

(And now I'm stopping this entry before it becomes another monster.)

5 comments:

  1. as an english teacher, i always believe in brevity when it comes to communication - written or oral :) but maybe that's just me. i mean, you're right, once you've made your point, what else is there to say, right? :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Pwede bang magpa-tutor, teacher? :D Just kidding ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. you write so well sir, they just have to know you so that they will understand ...or..maybe, knowing you is much complicated? eh?

    ReplyDelete