06 Jan 2015, 9:39 pm
Brevity is not my friend.
I will frequently start a post by saying, "I don't have much time so I need to be brief" and somehow my post still becomes a novel. I have a hard time parsing things out.
I do try to keep things in manageable chunks.
I find that I can read very long posts provided they are divided into multiple paragraphs, but I often cannot even make it to the end of a moderate-length post if it is all in one paragraph. My mind and eyes revolt against the sheer "solidness" of the text and even though I have excellent reading comprehension skills, I feel like I can't understand anything I am reading.
There have been times when I make my main point up front for those people who can't stand longer posts and then "go on and on" for people who don't mind.
One of my undergrad professors made me do an awesome exercise. She gave me a subject and told me to write a "small paper" on it. I came back with a 5 page paper. She said "OK. Good. Now tell me the same thing in 4 pages." When I came back with 4 pages she said "Now tell me the same thing in 3 pages." Then 2 pages. Then one page. Finally 3 paragraphs.
It was nearly impossible for me and took me a very long time to do. But it did teach me that I can be to-the-point when absolutely necessary. It took a whole lot of effort, though, so I only do it when I really, really have to.
Look....I intended that to be brief! 
