How Twitter’s 140 Character Limit Made Me a Better Writer
Twitter plans to expand its typical 140 character limit , and many people welcome the change. But as annoying as the 140-character limit was, I found it really helped me practice a few guidelines for better writing.
This forced me to get rid of unnecessary emails.
Writers love words and love to use them as much as possible. This can lead to confusion or what some might call “churning” or “stuffing.” When you lose text, you add words that you don’t need to convey your message. It may make your article longer, but as William Zinser, author of Good Writing , adamantly says, it will weaken your writing:
Clutter is a disease of American writing. We are a society choking with unnecessary words, circular constructions, pompous frills and meaningless jargon.
Twitter only gives you 140 characters to play with (for now). This means that your thought, joke or news should be, as Zinnser explains, “refined to the purest ingredients.”
When I tweet, I am constantly reminded that I over-complicate what I am trying to say; and if I want to share my thought, I have to shorten my cluttered message. In theory, this way you can get rid of unnecessary garbage.
When you’re going to edit your own snippet, don’t be afraid to cut out the words mercilessly, as if you were doing it in your tweets. In fact, Zinnser recommends that you check every word you write down. You will probably be surprised to find out how many of them don’t make any sense. Determine what you want to say, and first say it as simply and effectively as possible; then worry about the nuances. Remember, brevity is the soul of wit.
It helped me write more clearly
As I try to fit a well-thought-out message down to 140 characters, Twitter makes me think of the reader’s point of view. Not only must I get to the point quickly, but I must also make sure it is clear.
Basically, you want to make sure that your tweet actually makes sense. It’s not so much about changing a thought, but how best to shape it so that others can understand. As Zinnsser says:
If the reader is lost, it is usually because the writer is not careful … In terms of skill, there is no excuse for losing readers through careless skill.
It is clear that social networking nobody cares what you write, but it is the ideal place to practice.
Twitter constantly asks the question, “What do you want to say?” Before answering, why not take it a step further and ask yourself, “Is what I am saying is clear?”
If you can learn to make your short thoughts clearer on Twitter, this practice can very well transition into your other forms of writing, as it did for me.
This made me check more
This is not directly related to the Twitter character limit, but when forced to shorten a tweet, you have to scan your email multiple times, which helps you spot errors. There is no rule that tweets must be grammatically flawless (or corrected anyway), but proofreading practice doesn’t hurt. Sometimes I notice a missing word, a typo, the wrong timing, or even misused words after one time.
Your tweets are seen by more people than your personal posts, and the Internet is not the most favorable place, so there is an additional incentive here. People love to point out mistakes, and while some people do it in order to be helpful, others just want to be mean.
My best advice is to read my tweets and everything else out loud. When something doesn’t sound right, you know there is a written error lurking somewhere.