By David Ettinger
Reader Complaint
The biggest complaint from readers is that they simply don’t have the time to read all the blogs they would like. Tied to this is that most blogs are too long!

Part of that has to do with not knowing how to make a point and move on. The great director Steven Spielberg said of the director of the classic film “Casablanca”: “Michael Curtiz knew exactly when to get into a scene, and exactly when to get out of a scene.”
This is the best advice I ever heard as I apply it to my writing (i.e., make your point and move on).
Examples of Overkill
One of the biggest examples of writer overkill I have encountered are the books of revered preacher and teacher John MacArthur. I find Pastor MacArthur’s sermons to be concise, insightful, and perfectly paced. The same, however, cannot be said for his books, which suffer from an annoying pattern: The first half is great; the second half redundant.
I don’t blame the pastor as this is the reality of the publishing business. Pastor MacArthur usually makes all his points and applications in 75 pages, but this is too short a length for a book. Therefore, the content must be stretched by over-explaining what is easily understood, repeating a point in different words, and giving unneeded examples.
This causes me to say out loud: “Got it! I read this already; why is it being repeated?”
Be Concise
I find this to be the case with many bloggers; they make their points just fine, then feel the need to explain it several times to make sure their readers get it. Rather, bloggers should be brutal on themselves, telling themselves: “Make your point, and move on. Don’t waste the reader’s precious time!”

Think of concise writing as giving instructions to a driver without GPS: “Make a left at Oak; go three blocks and turn right on Elm; stay on that for 3 miles; get on the 429; exit on Williams Avenue.”
Don’t waste time by saying, “Turn left at Oak – I once got mugged there; turn on Elm, the ugliest street in town; and get on the 429, which is pot-hole city!” Spare the unnecessary commentary and stick to the instructions!
How To Do It
As I said, be brutal on yourself. Hate your first drafts! I write my first drafts in a fury – including everything that comes into my head. Then, over the next few drafts, I slice away, telling myself: “Not needed; unnecessary; I already made the point.”
The idea is to keep moving forward and not over-explain what is easily understandable.
The picture above is the first draft of my most recent blog (which came out to 666 words!). Notice how I “hated it” by shredding it and slicing out redundancies and overkill. I eventually trimmed it to a svelte 566 words.
My goal is to get readers engaged at the start and keep them engaged my moving swiftly through the content (hopefully a 3-minute read). When I open a blog, I scroll down to see how long it is. If too long, I won’t read it (that’s a reality for many readers). I do my best to prevent that happening to my blogs.
So, there it is. Comments welcome!
LDW
August 17, 2020
Yep and yep. I *try* to keep my editions to ~ 2K words while moving things right along at the same time.
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dettinger47
August 17, 2020
Thanks, LDW. The key word is “try,” which indicates you are cognizant of maintaining a certain length. Thanks for “checking in.”
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Blue Collar Theologian
August 17, 2020
Well said! No disagreements from me. I cast stones all the time at myself in regards to editing my posts.
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dettinger47
August 17, 2020
And if you need some support, I’ll cast stones at you also! Just kidding, just kidding!!!!
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Blue Collar Theologian
August 17, 2020
Ha! I literally laughed out loud!!!
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dettinger47
August 17, 2020
Hope you didn’t just take a heaping bite out of a sandwich when you did!
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Bill Sweeney
August 17, 2020
I hope you didn’t write this for me, David 🙂 my goal is to keep my posts around 800 words. I know that people are busy. I also scroll down to see how long a post is before reading.
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dettinger47
August 17, 2020
Hi Bill. Writing this about you would have been to write this about myself! I always aim for between 600 and 800 words.
Thanks for you feedback, Bill … and for keeping your blogs tight, short, and enjoyably!
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Bill Sweeney
August 17, 2020
Good advice. I will try to make my posts shorter.
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dettinger47
August 17, 2020
Not necessarily, Bill. For me 600 to 800 words works, but you have a very loyal following who really wants to hear from you.
Stick to what you’ve been doing. I find your 800 words to be perfect for your blogs. Carry on and don’t change a thing!
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Bill Sweeney
August 18, 2020
Thank you! I love my blog community. I’m going to try to post more often.
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dettinger47
August 18, 2020
Looking forward to it, Bill!
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Lisa Beth
August 17, 2020
I’m with David here, brother!
“…you have a very loyal following who really wants to hear from you.”
I’m SO happy to see your post in my email – and just so glad you’re still with us! Every word matters brother, we love you.
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dettinger47
August 17, 2020
Thank you so much, Lisa Berh.
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dettinger47
August 17, 2020
Oops. Beth.
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Bill Sweeney
August 18, 2020
Thank you, Lisa. We love you, too!
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thad333
August 17, 2020
“Be brutal” ,,,sez it all”
Exactly!
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dettinger47
August 17, 2020
Thanks, Thad. I guess this is one instance when brutality is good!
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thad333
August 17, 2020
I guess it’s called, being cruel [with self] to be kind [to the reader]! 🙂
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dettinger47
August 17, 2020
Nicely said. I like it!
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seekingdivineperspective
August 17, 2020
I usually spend an hour or so writing a piece, then another hour or two trimming it down.
As for the repetition, when I was a new teacher I was told by more seasoned teachers never to expect students to remember something you have only said once. Even so, when editing my posts, if I catch myself making the same point in another way, one of them has to go.
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dettinger47
August 17, 2020
I totally agree regarding students. I think when in comes to reading, it’s a little different because people can go back over something they may not have gotten the first time. I guess that’s a good kind of redundancy.
Thank you for the excellent feedback, as usual!
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Sheila D.Currie Blake
August 17, 2020
Personally I like to keep my blogs short. thats just me. Even with my novels I prefer to write short novels. But I would say do what works for you and what works for your audience. Stick to what God has called you to do and you cannot go wrong. Thanks for your post.
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dettinger47
August 17, 2020
Well said, Sheila. I absolutely agree, especially regarding “what works for your audience.”
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Tom
August 17, 2020
Good advice, David! I “try” to limit my posts to 500-600 words because I read posts, too. Let me check my annual site stats for 2020. Yup, 578 average words per post for 216 posts so far this year.
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dettinger47
August 17, 2020
You know how to set a goal and stick to it. Way to go, Tom!
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Tom
August 17, 2020
Thanks, David! I was convinced my posts were much more long-winded when I first began blogging 5 years ago, but I just checked my annual stats for each year and my average words per post was below 600 every year except for 2018 when it was 605. Hey, this is turning into a nerdy 500 word comment!
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dettinger47
August 17, 2020
605 words? What got into you, running on and on like that!
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Tom
August 17, 2020
LOL! I don’t know what got into me in 2018? I guess I was extra full of myself that year.
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Angel at Watchyourlifeinpictures
August 17, 2020
I only read blogs on my phone so short is basically the overriding factor for me.
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dettinger47
August 17, 2020
Thanks, Angel. This is an important factor bloggers need to consider. I never thought of this until you mentioned it. Now I’m even more determined to keep my blogs short. Much thanks!
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Lisa Beth
August 17, 2020
This is excellent advise, esp from a seasoned professional writer like you. You had written something similar a while back – it was sound counsel which I follow.
Press on brother….
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dettinger47
August 17, 2020
Thanks again!
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Sonrisa (Crissy)
August 18, 2020
Great Post.
But just between you and me, I would like to have a GPS like your second description 🙂
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dettinger47
August 18, 2020
Same here!
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mrsmariposa2014
August 21, 2020
Good point. I admit I can occasionally get lost in my love of words, but always working on it. 🙂
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dettinger47
August 21, 2020
I think you do okay. 👍
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mrsmariposa2014
August 21, 2020
Thank you! 🙂
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