Arts
Josh Bernoff’s blog WithoutBullshit.com feeds a cool million readers a year. His message is simple: “reduce, reduce some more, and here’s how.” By judging his readership numbers and the enthusiasm in which his readers receive his content I am confident that reduction is an antidote to the overwhelmingly complex world we meet daily. Josh is the doctor and he’s got the cure. In my first reading of Strunk and White’s canonical Elements of Style, William Strunk’s Rule 17 presented to me a lifetime challenge: omit needless words. Its impact redirected my writing and, in one of those “hey this applies to other things!” moments, it redirected my life. A greater tenet I have yet to discover, for we need not limit omitting to only our words, but to all aspects of our lives. Minimal wins. It’s zen man. I’m just going to leave the expanded Rule 17 here: 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 tell. I read “that every word tell” and it elicits in me a tingling joy as though a wise sage placed into my palm a suffrage-abolishing piece of advice. There’s no room for bullshit folks. And in the words of the venerable George Carlin: “It’s all bullshit, and it’s bad for ya.” Josh Bernoff has made it his life’s mission to eradicate gloppy bullshit from corporate and political interactions in which bullshit is stacked so high it’s difficult to tell where the mouths begin and the rubbish ends. I admire him. As the noise around us grows we must learn to become the signal, crisp, clean and laser-like, and in that act there is no room for wishy-washiness or platitudes. Let Josh teach you to take your message and pierce through the heart of today’s deafening racket. Be heard. Writing Without Bullshit is Josh’s upcoming book and is slated for release in September 2016 through HarperBusiness. Snippets Learn how Josh pivoted from a Forrester Analyst to best-selling author 10 writing tips to clarify your writing How to kill your MPs (meaningless platitudes) How qualifiers (word like very, much, etc) muddle your message Why you should be skeptical of every poll in the news A break-down of Donald Trump’s ability to deceive How language has degraded in the digital age How to strip your writing down to its purest form Why timing is critical in a book’s selling success Techniques to launch your book How to mobilize fans to promote your book and why publishers won’t do it for you Strategies other than a mailing list to sell your book Why creating useful content trumps all forms of advertising How to tell if a phrase is in the passive voice Why to use “I,” “you,” and “we” in non-fiction writing How Donald Trump’s active voice has reinvigorated politics Why writing shorter is better How to avoid using weasel words How to write a book through blog posts Why Josh decided to go through a traditional publisher ]]>