6 ms·

That whole article could have been just two sentences.

gumoro 5y ago
I recommend the 6th paragraph (4 sentences) in this article: https://newsroom.ucla.edu/dept/faculty/peter-goadsby-migraine-expert-awarded-brain-prize-2021 https://newsroom.ucla.edu/dept/faculty/peter-goadsby-migrain...
carlmr 5y ago
I blame schools for teaching kids to reach word limits, instead of how to express themselves concisely. A prime example of Goodhart's law, or just finding an easy to check proxy for writing quality. Of course another reason is that modern journalis has to include at least two paragraphs of enticing fluff so that readers buy the subscription.
- lelandfe 5y ago
  On the web, content length is also typically seen as an SEO signal. Whether that’s a direct signal or just keyword stuffing, who knows.
- marcos100 5y ago
  > I blame schools for teaching kids to reach word limits, instead of how to express themselves concisely. I thought the same in the past. But I think it's a good idea to enforce word limits to make them think more about the subject and to practice writing longer and complex texts. The problem is that the teachers just impose a limit without explaining and then it just looks like some bullshit metric. I think modern journalism is more about SEO and getting attention, not word limits imposed when we were in school (if you hate word limits, then you probably dind't continue writing longer texts)
- dorkwood 5y ago
  They can also fit more ads into a longer article. That's arguably the most important thing.
- magicalhippo 5y ago
  My SO had that problem with word limits at school. She would write 5 pages for a 300 word assignment, it was almost like a brain dump. At college I helped her with her assignments after she was done writing. I didn't know her topic but just reordering sentences, deleting redundant ones and shortening others. I started doing this after she failed an assignment and she asked for help. After we were done "post-processing" it, she got a B on it. We hadn't touched any of her technical points, just improved the language. I now help my sister through something similar. She has the opposite. She'll write 300 words for a 1000 word assignment. Again I know nothing of her subject, but I'll do a similar post-processing. In the process I'll notice there are some gaps in her arguments perhaps, or things that aren't as fleshed out. So I ask her about it and almost always she can tell me lots about the subject from the books and articles she's read as part of the curriculum. So I tell her to write it down, and after going through the assignment we're suddenly in the position where we have to trim some stuff. I used to think word limits were somewhat silly, but now I see how they can help focus the unfocused or help tease out the knowledge. Both my SO and my sister improved over time, requiring much less help after a while. Of course left to their own devices, it would likely be very difficult for them. So there's that. Incidentally, language was never my favorite subject and I didn't do particularly well. However studying math helped me a lot with writing non-fiction, where things like consistent logical arguments matter.
  - EricE 5y ago
    >I used to think word limits were somewhat silly, but now I see how they can help focus the unfocused or help tease out the knowledge. Favorite quote (because I tend to be wordy): “I apologize for such a long letter - I didn't have time to write a short one.” ― Mark Twain So much nuance in that simple sentence!
  - tcbawo 5y ago
    The ability to tell an engaging and concise story without gaps is a difficult skill. I imagine it can be required through practice and attention. I have noticed a certain deficit in this regard with my own family and I would love to hear what techniques or exercises might help.
  - saalweachter 5y ago
- toyg 5y ago
  > schools [...] subscription None of that. Journalists simply want to feel like they are novelists, because, deep down, that's what most of them really wanted to be.
dougSF70 5y ago
Come on, it wouldn't be an article then.
d4rkp4ttern 5y ago
Wish we could use one of those “social highlighting/annotation” apps so people identify key highlights to make it easier for others to find the key points.

I recommend the 6th paragraph (4 sentences) in this article: https://newsroom.ucla.edu/dept/faculty/peter-goadsby-migraine-expert-awarded-brain-prize-2021 https://newsroom.ucla.edu/dept/faculty/peter-goadsby-migrain...

carlmr 5y ago

I blame schools for teaching kids to reach word limits, instead of how to express themselves concisely. A prime example of Goodhart's law, or just finding an easy to check proxy for writing quality. Of course another reason is that modern journalis has to include at least two paragraphs of enticing fluff so that readers buy the subscription.

lelandfe 5y ago
On the web, content length is also typically seen as an SEO signal. Whether that’s a direct signal or just keyword stuffing, who knows.
marcos100 5y ago
> I blame schools for teaching kids to reach word limits, instead of how to express themselves concisely. I thought the same in the past. But I think it's a good idea to enforce word limits to make them think more about the subject and to practice writing longer and complex texts. The problem is that the teachers just impose a limit without explaining and then it just looks like some bullshit metric. I think modern journalism is more about SEO and getting attention, not word limits imposed when we were in school (if you hate word limits, then you probably dind't continue writing longer texts)
dorkwood 5y ago
They can also fit more ads into a longer article. That's arguably the most important thing.
magicalhippo 5y ago
My SO had that problem with word limits at school. She would write 5 pages for a 300 word assignment, it was almost like a brain dump. At college I helped her with her assignments after she was done writing. I didn't know her topic but just reordering sentences, deleting redundant ones and shortening others. I started doing this after she failed an assignment and she asked for help. After we were done "post-processing" it, she got a B on it. We hadn't touched any of her technical points, just improved the language. I now help my sister through something similar. She has the opposite. She'll write 300 words for a 1000 word assignment. Again I know nothing of her subject, but I'll do a similar post-processing. In the process I'll notice there are some gaps in her arguments perhaps, or things that aren't as fleshed out. So I ask her about it and almost always she can tell me lots about the subject from the books and articles she's read as part of the curriculum. So I tell her to write it down, and after going through the assignment we're suddenly in the position where we have to trim some stuff. I used to think word limits were somewhat silly, but now I see how they can help focus the unfocused or help tease out the knowledge. Both my SO and my sister improved over time, requiring much less help after a while. Of course left to their own devices, it would likely be very difficult for them. So there's that. Incidentally, language was never my favorite subject and I didn't do particularly well. However studying math helped me a lot with writing non-fiction, where things like consistent logical arguments matter.
- EricE 5y ago
  >I used to think word limits were somewhat silly, but now I see how they can help focus the unfocused or help tease out the knowledge. Favorite quote (because I tend to be wordy): “I apologize for such a long letter - I didn't have time to write a short one.” ― Mark Twain So much nuance in that simple sentence!
- tcbawo 5y ago
  The ability to tell an engaging and concise story without gaps is a difficult skill. I imagine it can be required through practice and attention. I have noticed a certain deficit in this regard with my own family and I would love to hear what techniques or exercises might help.
- saalweachter 5y ago
toyg 5y ago
> schools [...] subscription None of that. Journalists simply want to feel like they are novelists, because, deep down, that's what most of them really wanted to be.

dougSF70 5y ago

Come on, it wouldn't be an article then.

d4rkp4ttern 5y ago

Wish we could use one of those “social highlighting/annotation” apps so people identify key highlights to make it easier for others to find the key points.