Brevity is the quality of being short in words or in duration; in writing, it means saying a thing in the most economical way its meaning allows.
The word comes through Anglo-Norman from Latin brevitas, from brevis, short. In William Zinsser's 📝On Writing Well, first published in 1976, brevity is one of four principles of good nonfiction writing, alongside 📝Clarity, 📝Simplicity and 📝Humanity. Zinsser applies the rule at every scale: short words are better than long words (many rather than numerous), short sentences better than long sentences, short paragraphs better than long paragraphs, and short articles better than long articles.
Brevity overlaps with concision without being the same thing. Concision removes whatever does not serve the meaning, while brevity measures length; a brief text can still be cluttered, and a concise one can run long when its subject requires it.
Brevity reminds me of the value of 📝Mythos One memos.