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I never really considered it a problem until recently, but I have a tendency to be very wordy when describing a situation in writing. I've heard it suggested that overly wordy emails/online posts tend to be overlooked and therefore cause communication problems. One of the reasons for my doing this is concern that if I don't provide every single piece of information, my reader will misinterpret the question/problem and he/she won't be able to give a proper response.
What do you think? I know I'm not the only one who does this. (One good friend writes text messages so long they sometimes get broken into two parts.)
I tend to go to two extremes...providing excessive background detail in an effort not to leave out potentially relevant information, or to be less detailed than is necessary for the sake of brevity.
I tend to err on the side of more information versus less, because then it's on the reader to select what they need from what's given, and I'm not accountable for not providing the info. It's a CYA from working in journalism. Whether or not you need xyz detail, it's there, and you can't say you didn't know.
Providing too much info can be an annoyance to some, but not providing enough info can be a liability.If someone doesn't read thoroughly and misses something, it's on them, and not me. Better safe than sorry.
I am certain I often write far too much as far as some are concerned - and that probably looks worse these days to many because they are used to those less than 140 character 'communications'.
I am female, a circular thinker, and I tend to do a fair bit of thinking 'out loud' (verbally or on paper). I do try to curb it sometimes but not always when I think I have some points to be made that cannot be properly made (and therefore often can cause misunderstandings or require a whole pile of 'posts' or conversations to get through) without some 'rambling' (or what may be seen as that).
On a board such as this, I find two predominant styles of writing (though the particular forum or thread may also affect what kind of responses people have). There are those who have constant fast quips, often of the 'below the belt' kind and those like me who generally write much longer posts (though not always .. even I have my days) which, from my style vantage point, often come across as more 'thoughtful' (though I am not saying they always are). I am just not that practiced at the first way of 'communicating' - I don't text at all. I was taught to think in paragraphs.
If I don't really want to spend a whole lot of time just following one thread till, 47 pages later, all the individual thoughts of 2 or 3 people have reached the page - and even when I have read them all I have to reassemble them in my mind to be sure I understand what they are getting at - I write one long post, say all I have to say, and leave it alone (though I may check back a day or two later to be sure no one has rebutted me directly and/or has asked a question that requires another input from my side).
One other small point - the longer one lives, often the more story there IS to tell.
If there's nothing to be gained by providing excessive background, detail, or it's counterproductive to what you're attempting to communicate, you have to make the call. Very situationally dependent.
Do I care if I'm posting on a forum for recreational purposes, and I don't get responses, because nobody felt like reading through a bunch of exposition? No.
Do I care if I'm trying to justify a raise at work, and my boss can't get through what I'm saying, and doesn't bother to read it, whereas she may have taken my points into consideration, were they more succinct? Sure.
It would also help if the OP understands the grammatical concepts of paragraphs and punctuation. For extra credit, OP, please understand which words should be capitalized.
When I see one big block of like several hundred words with no paragraphs I suffer the temptation to ridicule the OP which in turn makes the forum management mad at me, which of course is understandable.
On occasion I have quoted an OP and copy-edited their post into readability. This usually doesn't cause too much animosity. Not sure if the OP liked it but nobody has called me on it yet.
I can become overly detailed with a story when I talk with others. I blame it on my book reading My husband pointed this out to me so I have become more aware of it. I like people to know it all, lol. Sometimes now I will start a story and let him finish it. He is just verbally more concise than I am.
As for super long posts….I tend to skim very long ones.
If there's nothing to be gained by providing excessive background, detail, or it's counterproductive to what you're attempting to communicate, you have to make the call. Very situationally dependent.
Do I care if I'm posting on a forum for recreational purposes, and I don't get responses, because nobody felt like reading through a bunch of exposition? No.
Do I care if I'm trying to justify a raise at work, and my boss can't get through what I'm saying, and doesn't bother to read it, whereas she may have taken my points into consideration, were they more succinct? Sure.
I completely agree with this, as I always try to take into account who will read what I write. For example, once at my former job I wrote a very long email to two bosses explaining why I supported one decision over another. This email contained 7 specific reasons. A friend later told me it's unwise to go into that much detail, but I knew from experience that if I'd only given a single reason, one of the bosses would have had an immediate counter-argument and I'd have lost. And this was a case where the wrong decision would have complicated my life immensely.
In the end, it seems like you could give as much detail as possible and somebody will still interpret it wrong. I told a story elsewhere on this forum that one person felt was too long, while others attacked me for not doing things that I'd really done (but hadn't included in the story).
It would also help if the OP understands the grammatical concepts of paragraphs and punctuation. For extra credit, OP, please understand which words should be capitalized.
When I see one big block of like several hundred words with no paragraphs I suffer the temptation to ridicule the OP which in turn makes the forum management mad at me, which of course is understandable.
On occasion I have quoted an OP and copy-edited their post into readability. This usually doesn't cause too much animosity. Not sure if the OP liked it but nobody has called me on it yet.
Certainly agree to this. I don't read long posts with no paragraphs, and lack of capitalization seems like the writer is saying they are too aloof to be bothered with such niceties. But some get away with just that, due to their helpful---if hard to discern---information. Even get rewarded for it! So I guess it matters less and less these days....
I tend to go to two extremes...providing excessive background detail in an effort not to leave out potentially relevant information, or to be less detailed than is necessary for the sake of brevity.
I tend to err on the side of more information versus less, because then it's on the reader to select what they need from what's given, and I'm not accountable for not providing the info. It's a CYA from working in journalism. Whether or not you need xyz detail, it's there, and you can't say you didn't know.
Providing too much info can be an annoyance to some, but not providing enough info can be a liability.If someone doesn't read thoroughly and misses something, it's on them, and not me. Better safe than sorry.
Yes, I sorta work the same way. I sometimes leave out relevant information because I feel describing it would be overly complex, and difficult to write without context being skewed. Which happens a lot in trying to convey things in writing. It's pretty hard to put inflection into writing, so all to ften things are taken literally which changes to true meaning of what you're trying to say. Also, many people may get the real meaning and context, but are looking for a way to start a fight, and deliberately skew things. Had that happen a lot on CD.
Often I just avoid complex subjects, even though I may have something to contribute, for that very reason. On the flipside, if I omit certain details, I will be asked to clarify, which ends up with me having to get into the complexities. Thus, making me try to find that balance between brevity and detail. It can be problematic at times.
I never really considered it a problem until recently, but I have a tendency to be very wordy when describing a situation in writing. I've heard it suggested that overly wordy emails/online posts tend to be overlooked and therefore cause communication problems. One of the reasons for my doing this is concern that if I don't provide every single piece of information, my reader will misinterpret the question/problem and he/she won't be able to give a proper response.
What do you think? I know I'm not the only one who does this. (One good friend writes text messages so long they sometimes get broken into two parts.)
Yes
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My husband pointed this out to me so I have become more aware of it. I like people to know it all, lol. Sometimes now I will start a story and let him finish it. He is just verbally more concise than I am.
