When
Less is Truly More
Ray Kroc, the
founder of McDonald’s once said, “Those who serve the masses, eat
with the classes.” Or to put it another way, if what you do has
broad appeal, it has a better chance of making you some money.
Selling hamburgers appeals to more people than steaks. This
mindset is certainly applicable to creative writing at all
levels. When we attempt to astound our readers with our
impressive command of the English language, we usually end up
alienating or worse, boring our audience.
Writing is an
art not a science. Every writer attempts to paint pictures with
words. To get the reader to feel, smell and hear the events
surrounding their story. Every letter, story, poem or article
has a purpose and a targeted audience. The greatest writers in
history understood this concept and used familiar examples, local
terminology and flowery descriptions in order to convey a message
to the reader. If you have trouble agreeing with this point,
just take a look at the most popular book of all time, the
Bible. The authors wrote of familiar towns far, Shepard’s
guarding their flocks and bright stars in the sky. They wrote
about the sights, smells and sounds that were present 2000 years
ago. Now I don’t know when I last saw a shepherd or noticed a
bright star in the sky but to the audience for this book, those
were real life examples. They kept it simple and attempted to
convey messages in logical sequence.
The magic
of writing can be reduced to a couple of simple steps:
1.
Organize
your thoughts into proper sequence.
2. Explain
enough about each thought so the reader Understands what you
are trying to say.
3. Don’t
get bogged down with too much detail yet make certain that you
develop your thoughts.
4.
Complete
each thought.
5.
Don’t give
away the ending until you are ready.
Most writing,
with the exception of technical writing, is done for the
enjoyment of the writer and/or to convey a message to reader.
For most writing, it should be assumed that the reader is of high
school age and reading ability. I would be willing to bet that
the vast majority of people in this country read at only high
school level. If that is the case, then why would we attempt to
write at an advanced college level? Often times, the writer
falls in love with the thought of impressing the reader with
their ability to articulate in a succinct and metaphoric style
that will enhance the image of the writer in the eyes of his
audience. The reality of the situation is that most people don’t
speak that way and certainly don’t want to read with a dictionary
on their nightstand. The ability to simplify the topic while at
the same time hold your audience spellbound is the point where
writing becomes a magical art form.
If what I
have said still meets with some resistance in your mind, then
look no further than the most commercially successful author in
the world today, J.K. Rowling. Now the name may not be familiar
to you but her Harry Potter series have sold more books to a
diverse audience than any writer in a long time. Her childish
books, written so that a 3rd grader can understand
them, has turned the literary world on its ear. Adults as well
as children have read and enjoyed the Harry Potter series. Her
ability to paint images with words has turned this single mother
with very little financial means into a billionaire. Not bad for
someone who had a couple of ideas and the ability to follow a few
simple steps. If Ray Kroc was a writer he may have said, “Write
for the masses and you will live with the classes.”
