Conciseness is the Key

           Some people believe that the longer a text is, the better it must be. This is certainly not true in most of the cases. Conciseness and directness allow the author to transmit his message in a clear and effective manner. Long texts usually confuse the reader and make the author’s objective obscure. Shields points this out when he states, “The merit of style exists precisely in that it delivers the greatest number of ideas in the fewest number of words” (p. 127). Brief texts do not represent a lack of ideas or topics; on the contrast, they reflect profound ideas that it is the reader’s responsibility to recognize. Perfect examples of this are Michael Kimball’s postcards which have a description of someone’s life written in them. An individual’s life is certainly very complex and long to completely describe it. This is what makes Kimball so fantastic. It is his ability to put years of experiences into a very brief text.

            In addition, the reaction of the people when they read their postcards has always been positive. This shows that Kimball’s synthesis of the person’s life has shown them how valuable they are and how interesting their lives are. Shields supports this point when he declares, “It is my ambition to say in ten sentences what everyone else says in a whole book-what everyone else does not say in a whole book” (p. 129) Synthesizing very long ideas into a few words is not an easy task; only a few can master this skill. Kimball is able to do what Shields describe in a very effective manner. Kimball not only synthesizes the lives of the people, he highlights key points that in some cases the individual himself has not realized. This makes people passing through hard times realize the positive moments they have had and that their live is not complete misery. Sometimes one needs another person to point out certain events for you to remember them.