Get to the Point

“Why waste time say lot word when few word do trick?” - Kevin Malone proverb

I mean, obviously, Kevin went a little overboard with the whole idea. But the overall premise of his statement has merit. When I’m writing something up, I make the effort to be both precise and concise. Instead of using six words to describe something, I aim to use the perfect single word.

Let’s look at an example. In Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling writes, “It was as though something large and scaly erupted into life in Harry’s stomach, clawing at his insides: Hot blood seemed to flood his brain, so that all thought was extinguished, replaced by a savage urge to jinx Dean into a jelly.” This flowery language is a lot, and the continued references to Harry’s “monster” are painfully cringeworthy. While our example is fiction and not a technical report, in the end, all we’re saying here is that Harry was horny and jealous. Let’s call a spade a spade and move on.

I encourage everyone to get to the point when writing technical reports. No one wants to sift through pages and pages of fluff to find the point you’re making. Let’s just tell the reader what they need to know in an organized, streamlined fashion. And with my point made, I’ll take my own advice and end my post here.