- Norman Foster
I recently watched a documentary about the architecture of Norman
Foster entitled, How Much Does Your Building Weigh, Mr. Foster?
Foster is an ever-dreamer. He is said to carry a set of pristine
notebooks and pencils in the trunk of his car for whenever inspiration
hits. He keeps his mind open, wants the tools of creation to be at his
fingertips at every moment. His lines are very spare, the narrator
says, but also very expressive.
Don't we seek to write stories of the same description? Every word,
every sentence should have a purpose. Cast out the superfluous,
keep only what is sharp, bright, dripping with meaning. We can
learn from great architects as we learn from each other.
If you would be pungent, be brief; for it is with words as with
sunbeams—the more they are condensed, the deeper they burn.
- Robert Southey
Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no
unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the
same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a
machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make
all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subject
only in outline, but that every word tell.
- William Strunk and E. B. White
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