Convention
speaker’s message:
In
writing, short is sweet
By
Kristen Lee
Bulletin Staff
 Often,
the most important sentences read, said or written that stay
with a person are concise.
Roy Peter Clark,
vice president and senior scholar for reporting, writing and
editing at The Poynter Institute of St. Petersburg, Fla., will
present a workshop at the New England Newspaper and Press Association
annual winter convention Feb. 8 and 9 based on his forthcoming
book, “How to Write Short: Word Craft for Fast Times”.
Short writing has
always been an important part of news and literary cultures,
Clark said.
“It seems in
the digital age, short writing is king,” Clark said.
And, either through
people who write for Twitter, for blogs, for newspapers or people
trying to get dates on Match.com, it seems that short writing
has come more and more into its own.
During his workshop,
Clark will draw from a wide range of sources to demonstrate
and offer examples of good, short writing, he said. Clark said
he also will draw from a number of sources, ranging from biblical
passages to the recent tweets. The goal is to show the audience
what good, short writing looks like, he said.
Clark said
he will also identify the six or seven main strategies that
writers have used through the ages to create the best short
writing. He said he also will show the audience some of the
most important reasons people choose to use short rather than
longer texts. MORE >
|
