What’s harder to write, a 600-page epic or a 250-page novella?

You might assume that longer content is more challenging – after all, there are more words. But that’s not always the case. Sometimes, succinct storytelling is just as difficult and it’s no less impactful.

Indeed, of the 13 titles nominated for the prestigious International Booker Prize in 2025, just one is more than 300 pages and eight are under 200 pages. Despite being relatively short, these stories still explore complex themes that promise to transport readers.

Whether you’re trying to convey an emotion or persuade a consumer, writing succinctly can be valuable. Concise writing can be more engaging, clearer, and create a better flow.

If you don’t want to waste words when writing, here are six tips.

1. Start with audience insight

Whether you’re writing a novel or a blog post, start by thinking about your audience and the purpose of your words.

• What do you want the reader to get out of your content?
• What is it about the content that will be interesting to them?
• What action do you want the reader to take after they finish reading?

A vision of your audience can allow you to identify where your focus should be.

2. Create a clear outline and goal

A clear outline is a must if you want to write briefly. You’re less likely to meander if you have a direction and goal.

So, setting out subheadings, using bullets to list the key points, or noting the research you need to include at the start could be useful.

It’s an approach that could speed up your writing too. If you’re not stopping to check statistics or contemplate the layout, you’re more likely to get into the flow of writing.

3. Favour active voice over passive voice

Using active, over passive, voice could make your content more straightforward.  Active voice means your sentence is structured so the subject performs the action. For example:

• Passive: Pension contributions are paid by the employer for its employees.
• Active: The company pays pension contributions for its employees.

There are times when passive voice might be the right choice, but, generally, active voice is more concise. What’s more, it emphasises the action, so your content is more interesting.

4. Choose powerful verbs

If you aim to write succinctly, every word counts. One way to do this is to switch adjectives for powerful verbs.

Imagine that you’re writing about a bull market, and you state: “The FTSE 100 has increased by 10%.”

The adjective “increased” does a fine job of describing what’s happening. However, switching to a verb, like “jumped”, “skyrocketed”, or “soared” could be far more impactful. The simple change could make your writing more engaging without adding to the word count.

5. Skip the jargon

There are plenty of reasons to avoid using jargon, including getting straight to the point.

Depending on your audience, jargon might require a lengthy explanation. So, skip it and write in a way your readers will understand from the outset.

6. Use the editing phase to prune your work

Reviewing your initial draft is essential for pruning unnecessary words.

If you can, take a break between writing and editing. Even just a few hours could give you the space you need to better critique your work and spot superfluous content.

A top tip is to use the “read aloud” function in Word. Hearing your content spoken out loud can help you identify sections that are too wordy or unnecessarily complex that you might overlook when simply reading a block of text.

Be careful, simply focusing on cutting the word count might have a poor outcome. Being overzealous could lead to your content having no personality – it’s a fine balance.

Want some more tips for writing succinctly? Read Liam’s blog: How to do more with less: 4 tips for writing with brevity  

Get in touch with the Yardstick content team

If writing isn’t your forte or you don’t have the time to craft regular articles, our content team can help. Please get in touch by emailing hi@theyardstickagency.co.uk or calling 0115 8965 300 to find out more.