"Somewhere between the old-fashioned, first-grade prose of 'See Spot; see Spot run' and the meanderings of
Moby Dick, the art of concise writing has foundered," argued Linda Grist Cunningham, editor of the
Rockford (Ill.)
Register Star in "Observations on short newswriting" published in
Best Newspaper Writing 1992.
In the quarter century that the American Society of Newspaper Newspaper Editors has chosen its annual Distinguished Writing Awards, the contest has recognized short newswriting as a category just three times, in 1991, 1992, and 2002.
Indeed, Cunningham said that ASNE judges in 1992 worried that "there would be no entry that would meet the criteria. "That year, the prize was awarded to stories no more than 500 words long; in 2002, short writing included stories of no more than 1,000 words.
Happily, she said, the year's entries "virtually jumped from its pages. Clear, concise, focused, detailed, evocative, it captured the essence of the best of short writing."
The award-winning work of Julie Sullivan of
The Spokesman Review, Russell Eshleman, Jr. of
The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Jim Dwyer of
The New York Times demonstrate the power of brevity. Their stories reinforce, with the poet's economy, the prescription offered by William Strunk, Jr. in
The Elements of Style:
"Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that every word tell. "
No matter what the story's length, writing requires the same process of reporting, focusing, organizing, drafting, and rewriting information into lively and clear prose.
"The best short writing relies on nouns and active verbs. The stronger the principal parts of speech, the stronger the writing," ASNE judge Cunningham said. "Simple and complex sentences twine together, crammed with pinpointed details that capture the senses. The best short writing is evocative. Its success grows from the simplicity of a solitary note, not from the cacophony of a jazz band."
To mark the 25th anniversary of the Best Newspaper Writing (BNW) series this year, each month Poynter Online will
profile past winners and provide a brownbag loaded with ways for you to put the books' lessons to work.
In this BNW Brown Bag, you'll hear
American Society of Newspaper Editors Writing Award winners discuss the role of brevity in their stories.
You can also read three award-winning short stories, discuss them with colleagues, and tackle some provocative questions and practical exercises designed to boost your own abilities to write short -- and write well.
BNW Winners on Brevity
"It's about the same process. Basically I know as I'm walking back from the story what I'm going to write, and then it's a matter of sitting down and banging it out. And you do that for pretty much everything, whether it's a 25-inch piece or something short...
"In these kinds of stories, you just want to make your point, get in and get out. You want to write a 6-inch story. If you used every quote you got, your stories would go on forever. Plus, people tend to repeat themselves. So you use your quotes to bolster the main points of your stories, and then cut it off....
"If you have any talent as a writer, you have to be versatile. I can write a long story. I can write a short story, I can write a feature, I can write a hard news story. You have to be able to do that as a reporter. If you tend to write the same kind of story all the time, you're not really growing as a writer."
Russell Eshleman, Jr. , The Philadelphia Inquirer
Best Newspaper Writing 1992, Short Newswriting
***
"I think everybody should do editorial writing, because it's a real discipline. You really learn economy of language and making it strong. There isn't any editorial, and probably isn't any that's appeared in print, that I couldn't go through and still take out the extraneous words."
Susan Trausch, The Boston Globe
Best Newspaper Writing 1995, Editorial Writing
***
"I avoid adjectives...
"Far too often, some words in the lead are unnecessary or can be delayed. Sometimes people don't want to read the next paragraph because it was a lot of work getting through the first one."
Julie Sullivan, The Spokesman-Review
Best Newspaper Writing 1991, Short Newswriting
***
"What writing short forces you to do is think about the essence and core of the story, the marrow of the story... By writing short, you're telling that story and that story only."
Jim Dwyer, The New York Times
Best Newspaper Writing 2002, Short Writing
***
>>
Next: Julie Sullivan's story from Best Newspaper Writing 1991,
Russell Eshleman Jr.'s story from Best Newspaper Writing 1992, and
Jim Dwyer's story from Best Newspaper Writing 2002.
Apply the same techniques you'd use to compose a poem....
