Something I realized after accidentally falling on a long, ranting, blog post. Long paragraphs, complex sentences, multi-syllable word.
The realization? Lots of words are bad. Long words are bad.
Be honest, be brief, and be seated. That’s my motto.
If you understand, you can explain. Simple words will do. Short sentences will work.
If you don’t understand, strive to understand before you explain.
Sometimes I have to write a giant stream of thought vomit to exhaust my bullshit and reveal the simple idea that is struggling to reveal itself. There is one such stream of bullshit sitting in drafts right now. It will never see the light of day, but the idea will.
Maybe that’s something to consider about authors and people I admire. Don’t take what they wrote as Godwords. Maybe that book they wrote was just wordvomit on the way to uncovering an idea in their head.
The principle? Write simply, because it’s likely to lead to clearer thinking, which means better ideas. Reality is simple. Reality doesn’t need a PhD to be lived well. And it doesn’t need a PhD’s prose either.