February Writing Challenge

Most months have 30 or 31 days. Take around 10 percent away and what do you get?

February!

Here’s the challenge this month: can you trim your writing by 10 percent?

Important emailsBlog postsSocial media posts

Yes, even social media.

Find the evidence in the study Causal Effects of Brevity on style and Success in Social Media published in the Communications of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction. Researchers found that social media messages were more successful when edited down. The sweet spot was 10 and 20 percent shorter.

Look at your writing this month. Can you trim the words by 10 percent?

About these challenges

Here’s the theory behind these challenges: small, incremental improvements that become habits pile up.

These challenges ask you to practice different aspects of the craft one month at a time. By year end, your writing skills will have improved.

Let me know if it works!

Previous monthly challenges

January Writing Challenge