It's like good copywriting.
You already know, I hope, that long copy outsells short. But there's long and there's l-o-n-g. Self-indulgent rambling sells nothing.
When I write copy, I print and pore over it, red pen in hand, until it resembles a battlefield. Then I revise, reprint, and re-pore. I do this four or five times before I'm happy. As a result, the copy ends up short, punchy—and right.
I just wrote a newsletter article. After putting it through the above-described process, I was in love with all 1,650 words that remained. Then I dumped it into the layout. Oops. 1,310 words too long. Cutting another 80 percent of my beloved words hurt like the dickens. Besides, I was tired. But when I finished, I had to concede that the remaining 20 percent truly wielded power.
The ability to excise all you can without sacrificing meaning, tone or content is a gift. Covet it. Like syrup, the more you boil down copy, the tastier it gets.
Steve Cuno