Eclecticism: Reflections on literature, writing and life

Eclecticism: Reflections on literature, writing and life

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Eclecticism: Reflections on literature, writing and life
Eclecticism: Reflections on literature, writing and life
How to write short
5 minute tip/Behind the scenes

How to write short

... with a specific focus on book reviews

Terry Freedman's avatar
Terry Freedman
Oct 21, 2023
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Eclecticism: Reflections on literature, writing and life
Eclecticism: Reflections on literature, writing and life
How to write short
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Writing short has several benefits. For the reader it means just a small investment in time to derive pleasure or obtain information. For the writer it means stretching one's ability to the limit. One of the magazines I write for sets a limit of 150 words for book reviews. That doesn't leave room for nuance or beating about the bush. In this article I'll go into how I go about it.

If you don't have an editor breathing down your neck, try imposing that sort of constraint yourself and see how you get on,

Because you don't have the luxury of being able to go into depth, you have to make every word count. Let's consider the following sentence:

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