Less is More

There is a common misconception in writing that intelligence is demonstrated by the size and complexity of the words the author uses. With the rise of blogging websites like Tumblr and Substack, the ability to cultivate an audience for your writing is easier than ever. Thus, in order to stand out among the sea of blogs, writers have to make some part of their blog seem interesting or worth the reader’s time. Thus, they have begun to conflate complicated vocabulary with sophistication and worth. The longer the word, the more intelligent and meritorious the writer must be. However, using unnecessarily elaborate language does not automatically make someone sound smarter. More often, it makes the writing harder to understand and, therefore, less accessible to a greater audience. Further, it is quite elitist and pretentious to make your writing inaccessible to individuals who know exactly what you’re trying to say but can’t quite place it because you think “dichotomous” is a better word than divided. Good writing, at its core, is about communicating an idea effectively. If a simple word conveys an idea perfectly, then replacing it with a more complicated word does nothing to improve your piece overall. Personally, I am of the opinion that it just creates a distance between the writer and reader. The goal of writing should not be to make readers reach for a dictionary every other line but rather the understanding of the reader. 

This phenomena becomes particularly noticeable when authors use sophisticated language simply because they can. Their sentences become so packed with unnecessarily complex words that their true meaning gets buried underneath them. Instead of demonstrating knowledge, the writer has only demonstrated that they know impressive words. The way I see it, truly skilled writers know when not to use advanced language. Someone who understands a topic deeply should generally be capable of explaining it clearly. Obviously there is an exception when it comes to scientific, professional, or academic writing that requires specialized terminology with hypersensitivity to meaning. In that case, I believe there is a legitimate difference between using a technical term because it is precise and using a tetrasyllabic word that you and one other person know the meaning of. That’s not to say there is anything wrong with having an extensive vocabulary, though. Knowing unusual or uncommon words is a skill, especially for those individuals who are interested in the highest levels of education. Sometimes the word you need to use just so happens to be a very long one. The problem I see with it only arises when syntax turns into a performative outlet rather than a tool for expression. The smartest writing isn’t the most complicated, rather it is the writing that says exactly what it needs to say in a way the reader can generally understand. Intelligence cannot be quantified by the baroqueness of the words you use. If anything, the ability to take a complicated idea and express it simply is a much stronger demonstration of understanding. It will make you a better writer if you challenge yourself to write for a larger audience of people, not just to impress them.