William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway are considered to be among the greatest American writers. Both won the Nobel Prize for Literature (Hemingway five years after Faulkner) and both influenced countless writers. Each, as well, had a writing style distinct from the other. This is best exemplified by remarks from 1947:
Faulkner: "...he has no courage, has never climbed out on a limb...has never used a word where the reader might check his usage by a dictionary."
Hemingway, of course, shot back with a quip of his own:
Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?
Who should you emulate when writing for your own website? I'm coming down firmly on the side of Faulkner.
Less Writing Equals More Readers
Unless you're someone like Malcolm Gladwell, you shouldn't be aiming for novella-style posts. People are increasingly using feed readers and have numerous other sites that they want to read in addition to yours. Short posts are a way to make sure they read more of what you have to say.
This isn't to say that you can't pack a lot of information and entertainment into few words. Hemingway famously wrote a story containing just six of them--"For sale: baby shoes, never worn." You can surely squeeze your latest post into a few paragraphs.
By saying more with less you can actually get your audience to read more of what you have to say. Which means more pageviews, increased participation, and a larger audience. Something to keep in mind when writing your next blog post.