Simplify, Simplify, Simplify

Good advice from H.D. Thoreau. Simpler things are usually easier to understand. Good teachers take complex, confusing ideas and show us how simple the whole thing really is. It’s important for you to write this way because the world has grown, to a significant degree, lazy and impatient. They will not likely take time to ponder over the meaning of your ideas. You must do the thinking for them so that the thoughts lay themselves out clearly and easily in their minds. This is the job of anyone who wants to be a good writer.

If you need an example of good clear writing, you can pick up almost any young adult non fiction. When writing for young teens, un-simple writing rarely makes it to the publisher.

Translated into application:

• If you can get the same meaning across in three words as you can in twelve, three is probably better. Many people use big (and many) words in order to sound educated. If you’re writing something very formal (and if you really are that educated) then go ahead. If not, it makes you look like you’re putting on airs. It also makes your writing harder to read and generally less interesting.
• Here’s an example of trying to sound educated when you’re not: Thunder is a rich source of loudness. Click here for more. This happens more than you’d think.
• Make your organization very clear. Consider using headings.
• Delete (or reduce) anything that does not contribute to your purpose. Just say no to fluff.
• Rephrase any overly-complex or confusing sentences.
• Write your sentences with as few separate phrases as possible (see examples below). Break them into two sentences if you need to.
• Combine sentences to cruise through information quickly when appropriate. Don’t be redundant or say basically the same thing over and over more than once because it’s bad.
• Also, leave out little details that no one cares about, or ones that are obvious, when you can leave them out, because this is also bad and makes your paper more boring, by a long ways, than it has to be. After all, why should anyone be practically forced into reading anything like that when the author obviously, as we see from her writing, doesn’t care enough to simplify a little tiny bit.
• Find a good order for your ideas and phrases, if you choose to have many in one sentence (see Camera Eye below). A rule of thumb: the less punctuation you use, the simpler your sentence (this refers to your word order, not deleting a few commas).

Camera Eye: if you find yourself describing a physical setting, imagine that you’re looking through a movie camera. If you were describing a football game, you can see how a random description:

The fans went wild! A few birds flew across the horizon as the sun worked it’s way out of sight. The sweet smell of grass went unnoticed by the men dressed in helmets and uniforms. The ball was snapped and the QB instantly tackled and the game was over. A few sparkling reflections danced across the glass of the announcer’s box above the crowded stadium. Down on the side lines, coaches, coordinators, and water boys stopped scrambling and pacing.

Is far less effective and simple than one as a camera might see it (from point A to point B or from wide angle to close up):

A few birds flew across the horizon as the sun worked it’s way out of sight, sending a few sparkling reflections dancing across the glass of the announcer’s box above the crowded stadium. A light chill in the air sent fans’ hands to their pockets as they waited for the next play. Down on the side lines, coaches, coordinators, and water boys scrambled or paced. The sweet smell of grass went unnoticed by the men dressed in helmets and uniforms. The ball was snapped and the QB instantly tackled. The game was over and the fans went wild!

The only danger I foresee as you try to shorten long, unnecessary passages is that you will replace them with others that sound awkward. Long is better than awkward, but you should be able to find a sentence that will give you the best of both worlds.

Simplifying becomes easier and natural with experience. Practice simplifying these sentences:

• Sometimes, in the very early morning, when I wake up, I think that sleeping longer would probably feel great, but I know I can’t sleep in because school will start whether I’m there or not.
• The coach pulled up to the crowd and stepped out of his shiny, recently-washed, bluish gray two tone 1998 limited edition Eddie Bauer Ford explorer with mag wheels with a smile.
• In the morning, nothing tastes better than a good piece of toast, except for maybe a toaster pastry.
• You should always get a second opinion before having major surgery, or at least some people believe that.