Hot Text: Ch 5

This chapter is so true, and not only for the Web! As a long-time editor, I can really relate to keeping copy concise. Many times we had to edit to fit in various situations: Most times, space is the limiting factor. (A book cast-off and all financials point toward a 600-page book, but the author sends in manuscript that will typeset with the proposed specs at 700 pages! Or, a magazine article needs to fit on one full page and no more—that's all the room the issue has for it!). It's amazing what you can do to cut text when you have to—and I mean rewriting to condense, not eliminating content. BUT, you must always be careful not to change the meaning of the sentence or to reduce to the point of confusion. I think you have more leeway with this in books and magazines than you do with web copy, where the reader's eye is already challenged a great deal.

Click here to check out Strunk & White's Elements of Style, the classic on writing concisely, if you're not already familiar with it.