What is the point? That’s the point.

I usually have plenty to say.

Rarely am I lost for words. 

That’s partly because I don’t wait until my thoughts are complete before giving them voice. In fact, I process my thoughts through speaking and/or writing. 

My thoughts are often scattered. Words follow in a less-than-orderly form. It’s okay to be a verbal processor. But others need not wade through a wealth of words in order to grasp the main point.

“You need to tighten up your work,” academic advisors said yesterday. 

I know. And it is not only in academic writing that I am challenged. Blog posts should be short and sweet too. 

There is a place for wordiness. In writing, it’s called ‘a first draft’ or ‘a journal entry’. But it’s not what should appear on a blog post or even in an e-mail, let alone in an academic paper.  

A timely challenge

I have said many times throughout my life that I want to be a writer. And writers write. 

This would-be-writer, however, frequently becomes overwhelmed at the idea of pinning down thoughts that dart left, right, up, down, backwards and forwards. It’s difficult to consolidate them into coherent and concise forms. 

I know a writer who posts one blog entry each week. Two days ago, I responded to something she had written. In the process, we had an insightful discussion about blogging. I’m tempted to veer into a rabbit trail of the specifics of all we discussed. It was actually very interesting, but if I indulged in that tangent, I’d lose sight of the main point. 

What is the main point? It is that this writer disciplines herself to produce one short, to-the-point, blog post every week.

She explained that this discipline helps her to tighten up her writing. Through ‘having to’ produce regular posts, she also notices better, as well as thinks through what God is showing her. She becomes ‘light and salt’ on the internet. She, like me, naturally tends towards wordiness, but forces herself to be concise in her blog posts. 

Readers, including me, me are blessed. 

And I’m inspired. 

And so……

Sometimes a particular theme keep cropping up in life. This week, it is the theme of concise writing. 

First, there was the exchange with that writer-friend which began a couple of days ago. Then there was yesterday’s academic feedback about ‘tightening up’ a research proposal. Today there was a brief discussion in a break during an online academic writing session on deleting extraneous detail in our work.  

Is this challenge to write succinctly and communicate clearly something from God for my particular circumstances? Or is it just something that I’m noticing this week?

Does it have to be one or the other? God or ‘just me’? No. It can be both. It IS both. (And I’m verbally processing in written form … again.) 

It’s a discipline to communicate succinctly and in a way that is a pleasing to the eye. It’s a discipline to produce short, to-the-point, pieces of writing on a regular basis. It’s a discipline to wrangle all-over-the-place thoughts and force them into some sort of order. 

This blog is a good place to practise. If any of my family and friends benefit from reading along, good and well. 

Watch this space.