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Six Ways to Chop That Tweet Down to Size [Slide Show]

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Slide 1 of
120503-1 Intro
Brevity is the soul of wit, but it's also the soul of a well-crafted tweet. Communicating a fully developed thought in 140 characters or less isn't easy. So how do you edit and condense without losing your meaning? Mark Brownlow offers several tips—and an important caveat—atNo Man Is An Iland．Here are some of the best tips he has to offer.
120503-2 1. Plan on a rewrite

1. Plan on a rewrite

Granting "first draft" status to something as short as a tweet might seem odd—but even a veteran tweeter will rarely achieve concise perfection without some refinement. "Your first line of text probably does communicate what you want to say, but it takes rewrites to communicate it succinctly," notes Brownlow.

120503-3 2. Use synonyms judiciously

2. Use synonyms judiciously

For example, if something isdifficult(nine characters long), you can describe it ashard(four characters long) without altering your meaning. Save two characters by using in2011instead oflast year．当一个字符的区别between 140 and 141, switcha fewtosome．

120503-4 3. Eliminate unnecessary or implied words

3. Eliminate unnecessary or implied words

In informal environments such as Twitter, the personal pronounImay often be implied, which is whyLoved this articleworks as well asI loved this article．You can also edit out words such asthat,which, andwhoif you don't need them.New products that you'll lovecan easily becomeNew products you'll love．

120503-5 4. Use active voice

4. Use active voice

A passive voice does more than reduce the urgency of your statement; it also clutters your tweet with needless verbiage. Also, be aware of tense. A simple edit fromare usingtousenets you six charactersandimproves the quality of your writing.

120503-6 5. Abbreviate where appropriate

5. Abbreviate where appropriate

Abbreviations are a great way to save space—but they're a false economy if your readers don't know what you mean, or if they create the wrong tone. For example, even if your followers knowOMGstands forOh my God, using the abbreviation might not be an appropriate expression in the context of your online conversation.

120503-7 6. Don't sacrifice individuality at the altar of brevity

6. Don't sacrifice individuality at the altar of brevity

“短,简明的写作可以摧毁风格,幽默,emotion and personality if handled badly," warns Brownlow. "And these may be the very things that differentiate you from the competition or drive higher responses."

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Christian Gulliksenis a writer who has authored several of theGet to the Po!nt newslettersfor MarketingProfs. A former editor atRobb Report, he has also contributed toWorth,Variety,andThe Hollywood Reporter．
Social Media,Twitter,Writing

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