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Economical ("tight") writing

Economical ("tight") writing

From the course: Writing with Flair: How to Become an Exceptional Writer

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Economical ("tight") writing

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- In journalism, we use the word tight to describe writing in which points are expressed with maximum efficiency. Even when you think a sentence is as tight as it can be on reflection, you can often find that even more words can be stripped out to make it even more economical. When I was teaching myself to become a journalist I'd often admire the way that good writing, say in a well written newspaper like The Economist, would have this kind of crispness about it. There were no noticeably excess words. Each was placed with the utmost regard for relevance, and that's how you want to think. When there's no more room to tighten, you've probably found the optimally simple expression of an idea. There's an example often that I use but it's worth repeating because it gets across well the idea of economy and tightness. I found it first in a book on journalism I think by Harold Evans. Imagine a sign above a fishmonger's that reads Fresh Fish Sold Here. Consider which of those words could be…

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