James McBride Quotes

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.

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

My goal is to strip things down so that you need just the right amount of words or shape to convey what you need to convey. I like editing. I like it very tight.

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

Omit needless words.

You know that I write slowly. This is chiefly because I am never satisfied until I have said as much as possible in a few words, and writing briefly takes far more time than writing at length.

Aim for brevity while avoiding jargon.

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

Adverbs lead to overwriting. Try taking them out and reading your prose again to see how it sounds. Simple and less words are more powerful.

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

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.

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

Hard writing makes easy reading.

Good writing does not come from verbiage but from words.

Why need I volumes, if one word suffice?

Simple and to the point is always the best way to get your point across.

Easy reading is damn hard writing.

Vigorous writing is concise.

For each detail I include, I throw dozens away. So I guess the first trick is to pick the right details, the most revealing details. Then I think one must simply write quick, clean, bright prose. For me, this means rewriting and rewriting: almost never adding, almost always cutting.

I've simplified much more in my writing. I say what I've got to say, not in metaphor.

Say what you have to say in the fewest possible words.

Concision in style, precision in thought, decision in life.

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.