Christian Nestell Bovee Quotes

But the shortest works are always the best.

Say all you have to say in the fewest possible words, or your reader will be sure to skip them; and in the plainest possible words or he will certainly misunderstand them.

Wordiness is a sickness of American writing. Too many words dilute and blur ideas.

They write them long because they can't write them short.

A successful book is not made of what is in it, but what is left out of it.

It is excellent discipline for an author to feel that he must say all he has to say in the fewest possible words, or his reader is sure to skip them; and in the plainest possible words, or his reader will certainly misunderstand them. Generally, also, a downright fact may be told in a plain way; and we want downright facts at present more than anything else.

A good rule for writers: do not explain overmuch.

The simpler you say it, the more eloquent it is.

Never use a long word where a short one will do.

Brevity in writing is the best insurance for its perusal.

It has often been said there’s so much to be read, you never can cram all those words in your head. So the writer who breeds more words than he needs is making a chore for the reader who reads. That's why my belief is the briefer the brief is, the greater the sigh of the reader's relief is. And that's why your books have such power and strength. You publish with shorth! (Shorth is better than length.)

Simplicity is the outward sign and symbol of depth of thought.

The shorter and the plainer the better.

My stories are very compact. I want them to say the most complex things in the simplest way.

Hard writing makes easy reading.

The water in a vessel is sparkling; the water in the sea is dark. The small truth has words which are clear; the great truth has great silence.

Minimalism has a connotation of being reductive, and not in the best way. 'Brevetist' is a better term. I'm trying to be as concise as possible and still getting across to the reader. When information is delivered in that way, it is very satisfying to me.

Brevity and conciseness are the parents of correction.

Why need I volumes, if one word suffice?

I believe most things can be said in a few lines.

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.

I have made this letter longer than usual, only because I have not had the time to make it shorter.

True eloquence consists in saying all that is necessary, and nothing but what is necessary.

One mistake with beginners in writing is, that they think it important to spin out something long. It is a great deal better not to write more than a page or two, unless you have something to say, and can write it correctly.

Aim for brevity while avoiding jargon.