Write Simply

I have always favoured simply writing. It was such an onerous journey when I had to write lengthy dissertations for both of my master degree studies.   For me an idea reveals itself the best through simplicity and clarity. 

In Malcolm Gladwell’s online writing class, the writer states that writing should be simply enough so that it does not defeat the reader.  A simply writing does not mean the idea is simple; rather, most often than not, the most complex idea can be expressed in the most simplistic form.

This is probably the reason that I love Japanese Haiku, love minimalism, and love beautiful minds who can spread their ideas through clarity and compelling story telling.  

A typical Japanese Haiku is comprised of three lines, following, 5, 7, 5 syllables.  For a haiku poet who sees and experiences the visual rich world like the rest of us, but who somehow is able to express the poetic space of the world in three simple lines. That for me can be a skill worth pursing for a lifetime.

In terms of art, I always remembered an art program about Picasso, who was able to simplify the shapes of an animal, until all the unnecessary were taken away from the drawing; what remained is the inexplicable beauty, the essence, nothing more, nothing less.

Writing simply does not mean that one should not alternate long and short sentence structure, I love Gladwell’s lecture about alternating sentence structure to accentuate the idea, creating feeling with form, establishing rhythm with punctuation, and practicing rhythm and pace.

When we see a good piece of art, we linger.  I think the lingering takes place with a good piece of writing also.  When you encounter a beautiful piece, you just want to hang in there, read it twice, be inspired, and keep it very close.