Disappearing From Your Writing

The best writers disappear from their work.

This and other thought-provoking recommendations come from novelist Elmore Leonard in a post on his web site (via Lifehacker). Leonard maintains that disappearing from your work means you’re successfully showing – not telling – the reader what’s happening.

Although Leonard’s advice is written with the novelist in mind, a few of his main points are relevant for communications and marketing professionals:

• Limit exclamation points: “no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose,” Leonard says. Great advice.
• Leave out what readers tend to skip: Leonard urges the elimination of “thick paragraphs of prose” with too many words. For communicators, minimize the buzzwords and corporate blather.
• Write naturally: “If it sounds like writing, rewrite it,” Leonard opines. Even the dullest annual report or brochure can be written with a rhythmic, human voice.