The 500 Challenge

I’ve never been good at writing short prose. I’m verbose. But last week, a comment from someone who reads my blog challenged me. That person said I’d probably be able to attract more readers if I kept my posts short. Thanks for the feedback, reader. Challenge accepted!

God gave me a talent for language. The gift of gab, some call it. I’ve loved words since I learned how to read. Mom always told me to write down my ideas so I could develop them. Many of them felt like Big Ideas, concepts that could turn into whole books one day. Some of them might. I got an English degree so I could hone my skills, since I love reading and I’m a storyteller at heart.

One of my college professors challenged her classes to write one- to two-page papers arguing a thesis. She wanted us to get in, make our arguments, and get out—no “fluff”. It was difficult for me; I’m a huge word nerd.

I collect fun-sounding words in my Notes app. I probably have dozens, if not hundreds. I do the New York Times Wordle and Connections puzzles almost every morning. I use diction in my daily conversations that most people don’t because my head is full of vibrant, varied vocab. I love puns because of how they make words and their meanings play with each other.

Words are a creative outlet for me, even a form of therapy when I journal. I’m also an extrovert, and my ammo for most social interactions is quick wit and rhetorical skill, both innate and learned throughout my life (a.k.a. I talk good).

However, one thing I’ve never seriously challenged myself to do is be purposefully succinct and to the point in my writing. To make every word matter, like when I write poetry.

I’ll admit, it’s not easy. I naturally want to be long-winded and philosophical. But that’s not always necessary to make a point. In fact, it’s quite “politician” of me to use a paragraph to say something that only really needed one sentence. I even had a poetry teacher challenge me once to use single-syllable words in my poems because I tended to bring out the “big guns” when writing for that class.

I don’t think I’ve written a single blog post so far this year that’s been under 1000 words. I’ve been trying to make some deep, if meandering, points, and I often thought those points required wordiness. That’s how my brain works: always thinking, learning, and analyzing. This often leads to long, comma-filled sentences and steep paragraphs as I try to make myself clear.

But I’ve heard it said that a mark of a truly good writer is the ability to keep content concise without losing any important meaning. And I can appreciate a challenge to make my work shorter and (hopefully) sweeter, though doing so requires a lot more care, revision, and time.

So here I am, making a point. In exactly 500 words.