Douglas Brunt Quotes

Good writing does not come from verbiage but from words.

Through an arbitrary problem, I had arrived at a tenet of good writing: brevity wins.

I've really tried to strip my writing of as many adjectives and adverbs as I possibly can.

I think in most cases, unless you're writing about a character who is garrulous, you say what you've got to say and then get out. Those little conjunctions, those little turnaround words help you do it. That's the way I like to write: I get rid of things rather than add them.

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.)

Omit needless words.

Writing for me is cutting out the fat and getting to the meaning.

I think the best advice I give is to try not to write. Try not to overwrite, try not to make it sound too good. Just use your own voice. Use your own style of putting it down.

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.

Why say 'utilize' when you can say 'use'?

The best advice on writing I've ever received was from William Zinsser: 'Be grateful for every word you can cut.'

My most important rule is one that sums up the 10: If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.

Be prepared to fall out of love with your words. I'm still too verbose at times.

Hard writing makes easy reading.

Less really is more. It's a tendency of beginning writers to want to prove what they're talking about by going too far with description. I think you've got to keep it short, crisp and clean.

Substitute 'damn' every time you're inclined to write 'very'; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.

Anyone can make an article longer; the skill is keeping it tight and lean.

In a newspaper, you only have so much room. It teaches you the value of getting to the point, of not pampering yourself with your glorious writing. I've always been much more interested in one powerful sentence that stays with you. That's my style.

My writing tends to become very dense, so I have to keep some cushion. Sometimes, words that seem superfluous are actually essential for the overall effect.

In composing, as a general rule, run your pen through every other word you have written; you have no idea what vigor it will give your style.

Aim for brevity while avoiding jargon.

It is also true that one can write nothing readable unless one constantly struggles to efface one's own personality. Good prose is like a windowpane.

I am a stickler for damn good writing.

I actually think I learned to write concisely working for an encyclopedia company in Chicago.

Successful writers learn at last what they should learn at first,--to be intelligently simple.