Got a new assignment today. Writing a script for a sound and light show for the campus opening on August 31. I've happily spent the day researching California Native American legends and pioneer stories. My job SO rocks.
Another thing I did was to try to figure out how much script I can fit into the allotted 15-20 minutes. While searching on that, I found this article on poynter.org about writing with brevity. Loved it. Fascinating theory with great examples.
Writing short pieces is like a game to me. Who can pack the most meaning into the fewest words? Me, I hope.
Good thing I enjoy it. We have a brilliant and classy graphic designer who is forever reminding us that our publications will look better and be more thoroughly read if they are not so text-heavy. Each article for our annual report is about 200 words long. The blurbs I write for the university Web site hover around 350. Press releases are longer, but I begin to think they shouldn't be.
One of my best-ever projects: writing the mouse-over captions for the Web site. Each one had to be 19-21 words long, accurately match a photograph, and communicate a message about our campus. For some reason it was extremely satisfying to me to get those right.
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