Grab and Hold, But Not Too Long

Twitter's effect on writing has often been deplored because of its 140-character upper limit on "tweets", but this bug could well be a feature.

Getting things into 140 characters might be teaching young writers one of the most cherished virtues among those who deal professionally with writing: brevity.

Excessive wordiness is learned [italics added]:

Why do people write more than they should, when most people find writing difficult? This may be because during their education, young writers are...told to write papers to minimum lengths.

Say your piece. Use no more words than are necessary. Then get off the stage.

And so I shall.