Consulting Journal: Writing - The eight-word exercises

Writing: The eight-word exercises

by David Blakey

Learn how to write concisely.

[Monday 24 January 2005]

Here are two exercises in writing for consultants.

Exercise 1

Write a report. Choose a subject that you know well. Write 150 or 200 words on it. There is one simple rule. No sentence can contain more than eight words. Every sentence must be eight words or less.

For many consultants, this is a tough task. Many consulting reports contain long sentences. Some sentences have an average of twelve words. That is an average for the whole report. Therefore, some sentences must be much longer.

There are several purposes in doing this exercise.

Purpose 1: Awareness

The exercise makes you aware of how many words you are putting into a single sentence. (That sentence has 16 words, twice the target.)

The target is eight words for a reason. It is difficult to make a shorter sentence. Making up five-word sentences would be tough. It gets easier with nine words. Ten words allow a lot of flexibility. So eight words can provide sense with concision.

Purpose 2: Concision

The second purpose is to demonstrate concise writing.

Once you have written a sentence, you should find ways of making it fit.

You should edit each sentence to fit.

Exercise 2

Once you have mastered the technique, try this: write longer sentences. But keep each clause to eight words: longer sentences made up of short clauses. Try these exercises. They will increase your awareness of sentence construction; they will introduce you to clause construction. You will add more meaning into a sentence, while maintaining concision in clauses.

Purpose 3: Impact

There is a skill to writing concisely. But, because of the rhythms of short sentences, including a longer sentence will have more impact. And this is an important lesson. Many consultants imagine that they should continue to write long sentences, and that they will achieve a strong impact by adding a short sentence after them. Like this.

But these short sentences have a jarring effect. Like that. It can seem rather like applying brakes suddenly. So short sentences may fail after long sentences. A long sentence can be a breathing space. Your readers will breathe during it. This especially applies if they read out loud. They may have to take a breath. And that breath will refresh them. So instead of jarring your readers with a sudden short sentence, you can refresh them with a long one, thus increasing its impact.

Purpose 4: Speaking

These techniques are useful in public speaking. You know the rule: tell them what you're going to tell them; tell them; then tell them what you've told them. In your opening summary, use short sentences. In your main speech, use short sentences; add long sentences for greater impact. In your closing summary, use only short sentences. Write, revise, practice, re-write, and rehearse.

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