Editing can be hard. Especially self editing. A few months ago I found and bookmarked this link:
The Hemingway App
As I'm sure most Foundry authors know, Ernest Hemingway is primarily known for his minimalist writing style (the use of grade school-like grammar, austere word choices and short, declarative sentences). He also, of course, was a master of writing dialog. Now, I don't know what Hemingway would've thought of our modern world of sound bites. text speak and 140 characters but something tells me he would've felt right at home writing blogs and using twitter. Hemingway was once challenged to write a story using only 6 words. He wrote: For sale: baby shoes, never used.
To the point - a minimalist writing style is what you want when writing for the Foundry. And this app can be quite handy for self editing your prose and boiling it down to its essence.
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In any case, I think you're right the Foundry does indeed lend itself to concise writing. A good approach is to save your longest blocks for optional dialogue. Perhaps this app can help.
The example I'd use is Ayn Rand. Way back in high school we read "Anthem" (which incidentally has many Borg-like themes) and I came up with this joke.
Be like Rand, mostly
Regarding writing styles though, I've always liked Orwell. It's simplicity isn't about detail - for often you need vivid descriptions in order to create an immersive world, important for sci-fi - but rather simplicity of language. You want to be understood clearly by as many as possible. Where as some authors seem to have spent a lot of time hunting down synonyms. That does not mean in engaging is cliches though. Originality in phrases is another Orwell trademark.
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