6 ideas
Bad prose is not a surface defect to be polished after the thinking is done — it is direct evidence of muddled thought. Because writing and thinking are the same act, fixing the sentence forces you to actually figure out what you mean.
Economical writing means removing every word that does not earn its place, especially throat-clearing qualifiers, redundant phrases, and inflated abstractions. The goal is not brevity for its own sake but density — each remaining word carrying real weight.
Choose a specific imagined reader — intelligent but uninformed about your topic — and write everything to serve their understanding rather than to impress your peers or prove your credentials. Jargon, hedging, and self-display all betray that you are writing for status instead of communication.
McCloskey argues clear writing reflects clear thought, so muddy prose signals muddy reasoning rather than mere style. Improving the sentence forces you to sharpen the idea.
The core rules are to cut needless words, prefer concrete detail over abstraction, and write in the active voice with strong verbs. Economy of words earns the reader's trust and attention.
Prose is a rhetorical act aimed at convincing a real reader, not a neutral transfer of information. Anticipating the reader's resistance shapes what and how much you say.