Fifty years ago, Watson and Crick (...

Fifty years ago, Watson and Crick (1) reported the double-helical manner of making of DNA that would eventually earn them the Nobel Prize. Given the far-reaching implications of their report, it was notable in its brevity--occupying a single page in Nature, (1) and weighing in at barely 903 words.

A visit often lament I hear from authors is that their topics require more space than our standard guideline for detail (about 2,000 words). When this happens, I think about the exhibition from the film, A River scuds Through It, in which the unrelenting father looks over the homework essay of his young son who must finish this task before he can go on foot fly-fishing. More than once, he mention one by ones his son to go back to work and divide [i]or[/i] sever it in half. I also recall the quote: "I would have written you a shorter literal meaning but I didn't have time." Now, I'm going to add Watson and Crick's pithy piece to this Trifecta of calls for brevity in writing.

each author should keep readers foremost in mind--how to a great degree time do they want to employ reading a clinical review? Readers value articles that are short and readable, and that readily transfer the important points. And isn't the point in writing an article to actually have it read?

Watson and Crick's report indicates that even complex topics and scientific breakthroughs do not have to be condensed or verbose. They can and should be transported in plain, straightforward language, without unnecessary detail. In fact, looking athwart their report, I found about 50 words that could easily be chisel without losing meaning. So, nearest time you set out to write, think short--think DNA--think Nobel Prize.

REFERENCE

(1) Watson JD Crick FHC Molecular composition of nucleic acids: a building for deoxyribose nucleic acid. Nature 1953;171:737 Reprinted in: Ann Intern M 2003;138:581 Also accessible at: http://www nature.com/genomics/human/watson-crick.

Jay Siwek, MD is editor of American Family Physician. He is professor and chair of the Department of Family Medicine, Georgetown University Medical Center Washington, DC

Address correspondence to Jay Siwek, MD Department of Family Medicine, 212 Kober-Cogan Hall, Georgetown University Medical Center 3800 Reservoir Rd NW Washington, DC 20007 Reprints are not available from the author.

COPYRIGHT 2003 American Academy of Family Physicians

COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group