Everyone in our country has a voice. It's something that says not just where you come from,

but who you are. Welcome to NPR's Black Stories Black Truths, a collection of podcasts and

a celebration of the hosts and journalism who've always spoken truth to power.

Our voices are as varied, nuanced, and dynamic as the Black experience, and stories should never

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Good morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast Podcast.

Today's tip is that when you're writing, making something shorter almost always makes it better.

So give your writing a haircut, and your readers will be happier to read what you wrote.

This week I'm sharing some of my favorite writing tips. Even if you don't write for a living,

you might need to write reports or emails or articles for industry publications.

A few strategies can help anyone create writing that is more compelling and clear.

So my first professional writing gigs were for USA Today and Readers Digest,

which are two publications known for brevity. Paper publications always have limited space,

and so whatever I wrote the first time would almost always need to become shorter to make it onto

the page. This was sometimes frustrating and it doesn't work to turn a 1,000 word article

into a 500 word article. You need a different sized thesis for those two links.

That said, turning a 1,000 word article into a 900 word article is not only possible,

it will likely improve things. Here's how. You will immediately hunt for extraneous phrases.

We all have these throat clearing sets of words that we throw in without thinking about it.

If you are aiming to cut 10 to 15%, those will go fast.

You'll also look for more comprehensive words. Walked slowly, might become ambled, ran really

...