"S" is for Short Words

A to Z Blogging Challenge: "S" is for Short Words


You hear people say all the time, "I wish I wasn't short." Well, in writing, short is best! 

Audrey Owen has a fantastic website called Writer's Helper. In her article Writing Tips, she lists some great suggestions that I hope you will check out. For today, though, I'm only focusing on three short sentences from her Tip #5 -- Use strong verbs and nouns.  

They are:

"Short words are usually best. They have more punch. They hit the gut hard."

Notice that only one word has more that one syllable. Powerful!


Writing Exercise: Write for 10 minutes using short words. If you need a writing prompt, use "short". Do you have a powerful "short" sentence to share in Comment Section?  My response is below.

Short Sue
By Dawn M. Hamsher

Short Sue was so short that she sewed her own shirts. 
And sadly she hemmed even short mini skirts.
For shoes, she was glad with a child's pair, size three.
And little kid shorts -- they came down to her knee.

But on the inside, Short Sue was spunk that was pure.
No boy ever hit her  -- that's one thing for sure.
All fire, was Short Sue that she'd land 'em a punch.
The kid have no chance, he'd just lay in a bunch.

Short Sue was not sad to be listed as short. 
In fact, if called so, she would often retort,
"I might be small, but in lines I can zip.
I pay less for my food and less for a tip."