Two words can tell a story...believe me?

The simple words can be the most powerful ones:

I do.

We’re expecting.

Congratulations, graduate!

He’s gone.

You’re fired.

Reading over the list, my mind flashes from image to image like flipping through a photo album, stories complete in just in a few syllables.

I picture my own wedding this past July, I think of those I’ve attended, and I imagine those I will go to in time, as friends and sisters meet their matches. I remember my graduation ceremony and the joy of celebrating friends and family as they walked across the stage, too. I hold the sadness of the news of my grandfather’s passing and the joy of a friend’s pregnancy announcement.

There is so much said in so few words. That is the power of communication that is excellent, effective, and honest.

One of my best tips for writers as they approach projects like a personal statement or an application essay is to write a lot. Write way more than you actually need to. Ignore the word count. Then set it down. Go for a walk.

Finally, come back and delete a lot. Take out the fluff. Reread where you’ve added superfluous words that purpose not merely to communicate your musings but to flaunt your intellectual prowess…and write for your audience, simply and straightforwardly.

Read everything you wrote down and pare it down. Write less—but write it well—and your words will shine.

Picture this. I recently went to the botanic gardens and enjoyed exploring a new orchid exhibit. My family loves botanic gardens, too, so I took several pictures for them. In photographing the flowers, this idea about less>more became clear to me. When we try to do everything, say everything, and use as many words as possible to make our brilliant stories and ideas seem even more fantastic…it looks like this. You get the idea: I’m in a garden. But it’s pretty chaotic.

But then I zoomed in and took this picture, knowing the framing would help capture the elegance and the beauty of the flowers before me. I cut some of the context, I ignored the other flowers in the room, and I centered on what was most important to me and I focused the photo on that.

It’s so much better.

Writing less>more is like moving from haphazardly photographing a room (because EVERYTHING FEELS IMPORTANT) to focusing on a simple, powerful detail. It’s worth the work to zoom in, frame well, and focus on what’s most important.

I’ll keep it short: have a great week!

Cheers,

Emily M

P.S. I’m beginning to write a cookbook this year—more than recipes, it will be a guide for how to gather well…a template for good food + good conversation + gathering ideas you can use in your everyday life. If you want to join the recipe club to help me test 1-2 recipes/month, sign up here! We launch June 2nd.

P.P.S. If you want another fun project for the summer, I highly recommend joining this summer reading club. It’s flexible, it’s fun, and as you log hours each week, the organizer (hi Aunt Amy 🙂) donates to a nonprofit. What a great cause! Join me in reading about gardens, natural disasters, professional development, poetry….and so much more. Here’s the tracker and here’s some more information about the challenge!