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"If you care about being thought credible and intelligent, do not use complex language where simpler language will do."
This is a quote from a Nobel-prize winning psychologist in an article that didn't actually have to do with writing, but this definitely applies.
I see it most in new writers who are trying to write anything business or academic related, but it happens a lot of any new writers, even in stories. People want their books to be super sophisticated and amazing, so they try to do that through complex prose that just makes everything worse.
Just don't. Please. Just don't.
Write like a human being and you will draw people in. I have a degree in English and have worked for magazines and book publishers as a professional writer and editor, and my biggest rule I've learned over the years is that you should sound like as much of a human being and write as close to the way you talk as possible. You need to know grammar so things can make sense, but you should break it as much as you need to to sound like a normal person that people can relate to and connect with. You'll see me writing plenty of stuff that isn't as technically perfect, and it's not because I don't know better; it's because I'm making a conscious decision to write in a more casual way.




I think that works in some situations, but it doesn't work in others. It really depends on what you're writing. I wouldn't write the way I talk in a book where I'm trying to talk like someone else, I'd write like they talk. And maybe they're pedantic and a little condescending. Or maybe they're more soft spoken. Or maybe they're Commander Data from the Enterprise and they're super-analytical. I'd say write in a way that people can understand, but that also fits the story you're telling.
But if you're writing personal essays, then writing how you talk is probably the way to go.
And some of the most amazing novels I've read have complex prose. Michael Chabon is elegant in his complexity, so are translations of Umberto Eco. A magazine editor would more than likely be wrong to exclude them.
So, I would say take this advice with a massive grain of salt, like I'd suggest taking ANY bit of writing advice.
I agree. There is some mind blowing literature out there where the author doesn't "talk like a normal person" or had a voice and prose style so drastically different from the way I talk it was a struggle, but a struggle well worth it. I think "write simply" is good advice, perhaps even in most cases, but I think "write how you want to write" is even better.
Totally agreed. I guess I meant more "write how people talk" than how you talk specifically, if you have characters. But in general, as a professional editor who has edited fiction and nonfiction books, magazines, business documents, and more, one of the biggest mistakes I see that contributes to bad writing is people trying to "write well" by using fancier language than they need to.
Absolutely. I'm a professional editor also (well, half editor and half jack-of-all-trades, as you have to be in the nonprofit sector!) and a good chunk of my work consists of simplifying language that's more complicated than it needs to be. It's not just about clarity, either--simplified language usually sounds more intelligent!