The Virtues of Brevity

Ron Cunningham said he has given serious consideration to changing his business card to include the words “Trained Observer of the Human Condition.”

“That may be actually the best definition of a writer I can give you today,” he said, followed by a wry grin.

Cunningham, former editorial page editor of The Gainesville Sun, served up 45 minutes of gems and wisdom on Feb. 8, 2015 during the Writers Alliance of Gainesville’s monthly meeting at the Millhopper Branch Library. His self-titled talk was called, ironically, “Life, the Universe and Everything in 500 Words or Less: On the Virtue of Brevity.”

“The dirty little secret of our business is that writing short is harder than writing long,” he said. “There’s an old saying in the newspaper business that goes, ‘I didn’t have time to write short!’”

Cunningham reflected on a newspaper career that began in the 1970s, as editor of the Independent Florida Alligator in the years immediately after the University of Florida campus newspaper became independent. The Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel hired Cunningham directly out of journalism school, but he soon returned to Gainesville to cover politics for the Sun. Now retired, he still contributes a Sunday column focusing on environmental issues and serves as the Sun’s theater critic. He also is executive director of the nonprofit Bike Florida, which promotes responsible cycling and bicycle tourism in the state.

For all the writing Cunningham has done, however, he said he doesn’t have the discipline or interest to write anything long form.

“I really have no desire to write a book,” he said matter-of-factly. “You could hold a gun to my head and I couldn’t write a book.”

That doesn’t mean Cunningham doesn’t appreciate a good read. In fact, he is a voracious reader.

“If you want to write well, you have to read well,” he said. “Reading ought to be as essential to your life as eating and drinking and, indeed, breathing.”

Cunningham was turned on to reading at age 16 when he discovered Webb Miller’s I Found No Peace: A Journey Through the Age of Extremes in an attic while working a summer job at a New England inn.

“From the time I learned to read, I wanted to write,” Miller wrote at the very start of his book.

“And I thought, ‘Me, too,’” Cunningham said. “And from that summer, I never wanted to be anything but a newspaper man.”

Cunningham offered  tips for effective writing:

• Brevity is indeed a virtue, “especially in this social media/tweeting era when attention spans seem to be growing shorter by the very hour.”Keep the tone conversational by avoiding the language of lawyers, academics, engineers or, “even worse, land-use planners.”
• Grab your readers’ attention by making the first paragraph interesting, intriguing and provocative.
• Be careful using irony, satire and sarcasm because “some people will take you literally.”
• Don’t get personal. “If you can’t sway your audience on the basis of reasoning and the facts, you shouldn’t do it.”
• Don’t be afraid to be in love with the sound of your own words.Write about things that are relevant to your life and that you are passionate about.

For his final tip, Cunningham quoted “Alice in Wonderland’s” Red Queen—“Start at the beginning. Go through to the end. And stop!”

Looking back at a half-century of writing, Cunningham mused: “I still have this recurring nightmare that one day somebody is going to walk up to me while I’m typing away, put his hand on my shoulder and say, ‘How long did you think you could get away with this?’”