(Editor’s note: “How to Write Short: Word Craft for Fast Times” is the fourth in a series of writing and language books written by Poynter’s Roy Peter Clark and published by Little, Brown, beginning ...

A year ago I wrote an essay for the New York Times titled “The Short Sentence as Gospel Truth.” It argued that authors express their most important ideas or dramatic moments in the shortest sentences.

Or rather, so do people. We know that marketing is everywhere. Everyone is trying to tell you something. And then sell you something. Punchy is a vile word. What I’m talking about is succinct copy.

Whether you identify as one or not, everyone is a writer. Between social networks, dating profiles, blogs, and the day-to-day tasks of most jobs, writing is an essential skill. In How to Write Short, ...

How can you create a balance between short and long sentences, and how does that change the flow of ideas in your writing? This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word sentences ...

This week I'm going full-bore on long phrases that can so easily be shorter. I hope going full-bore doesn't make the topic a complete bore. I've been out of college for decades now, but I still have ...