Like everything else in this beautiful world of ours, brevity has both its fans, as well as, all those who want and need the gory detail and the repetitive conversation style that helps the detail soak in properly. There is a TV advertisement that talks about ‘Safety.’ The advertiser says the words; “Safety, safety, safety,” after repeating it three times. Than he claims, that people only learn a thing after it has been repeated three times. If true, that is not a good piece of news for brevity people. But! That may only be true if the person or persons had never been acquainted with the subject being discussed before.
I have heard people describe another as ‘a man of few words.’ Movies always depict the gunslinger, the tough guy, as one who has few words to say, “Make my day.” Everyone around is supposed to know what his few words are supposed to mean as well as every little physical gesture he makes.
I was reading a story the other day about a man who had served as a Wall Street broker for many years and was sick and tired of the rat race and decided to become a monk at a monastery where they were not allowed to speak. He did some research and finally identified a Monasterial Order that required a vow of silence. After joining the Order he found out that the monks belonging to that Order were only allowed to say two words a year. At the end of the first year the head Monk calls him in and allows him to say his two words. He says “Too cold.” the Head Monk throws him an extra blanket and he leaves. Another year goes by and he is called in once again to say his two words. He says, “Too bland.” The Head Monk throws him a salt shaker and he leaves. At the end of the third year the head Monk calls him in again and he says, “I quit” The head Monk says, “You may as well! All you’ve done since you’ve been here is complain!”
That story describes brevity in communication very well, I don’t think there was any chance that the head monk did not understand his short and to the point conversation?
We have a neighbor who has lived a quiet life, he had been a farmer who owned a relatively small farm with just a few acres, milked a few cows and raised a few chickens. After his children left home he couldn’t afford to hire anyone to help and as he got a little older he had a hard time keeping up with things. Finally he had to sell his little farm and it took him a while to find a job in town to support he and his wife. Because of the fact that he had been working alone, long hours every day, much of his life, he had a hard time relating to people. He knew exactly what to say to his cows and chickens, but he just did not have much to say around people. In the new community where they moved to in town, he was called by his local Bishop to be in a leadership position. When it was his turn to conduct the meeting, he stood up and while looking at the floor he hesitantly said; “I guess it’s time to start, has somebody got the lesson?” Another person acknowledged that they had the lesson and without further ado got up and taught it. At the end of the lesson, this brother got up and again looking at the floor said, “Would someone like to say the closing prayer?” Someone got up and said the closing prayer and the group was dismissed. If you are acquainted with how a group is usually conducted, you will realize that he was the champion of brevity.
William Strunk, Jr. “On The Elements of Style” offers this advice to writers: “Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that every word have meaning.”
I have never been a vigorous writer, nor a concise writer as Mr. Strunk has described. I enjoy words too much, a story that does not carefully describe the characters and the environment where the story takes place, is more like a mechanic’s manual, than it is a story. In regards to the spoken word, there are, in fact, people who like to argue and will not let a subject go, making their point over and over with only slight variation. The reference, “He’s like a dog with a bone” refers to them.
I do, however, try to keep my written thoughts relatively short and I also believe that brevity has its place in writ and in conversation. I’m just not sure that I could always enjoy brevity. I, personally, enjoy words and well-described stories too much.