"I'm sorry I could not have written a shorter letter, but I didn't have the time." --Abraham Lincoln
One of my heroes from the Advertising world, George Lois, put it best. "Not too long after U.S. President Abraham Lincoln delivered the iconic wartime Gettysburg Address of 1863 in under three minutes and in just 10 sentences (272 words he had written and rewritten and agonized over), he wrote a long letter, in minuscule handwriting, to a friend. The apology above, that he didn't have the time to contemplate, correct, and edit his letter, is the most lucid lesson in good writing I've ever read. Keep it short, informative, concise, and literary, where every single word counts. But remember: It's not how short you make it; it's how you make it short. Think long. Write short."
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Damn Good Advice (for people with talent!)
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