Romance readers are some
of the highest educated people
on the planet.
I COULD use long, fancy words
in my novels.
Instead, I use the shortest simplest words
I know.
Why?
Because it is easier
to invoke emotion
with short words.
Darkest Hour screenwriter
Anthony McCarten
shares
about Winston Churchill.
“If you look at the copies
of his speeches
that have survived,
they are heavily marked up.
He was scrupulous
about the impact of each word.
He preferred short words
and the repetition of short words.
He knew everything about
the techniques of rhetoric.
He learned them from the masters,
from Cicero on.
Short words draw from a deeper source.
It’s more of a soul connection.
You move people emotionally
to a much greater degree
with simple, agrarian language
than you do with the long words.”
Emotion sells.
Short words invoke emotion.
Use short words
in your marketing copy.