How do I reconcile two pieces of writing advice which seem to me contradictory, while at the same time, I’m certain they are both correct and useful?
What are you talking about? I hear. All writing advice is contradictory.
True, but it doesn’t always show-up simultaneously, and more important, they don’t normally both have advice that seems to be correct!
Today, I read a post by Nathan Bransford, “Stamp out vague catchalls in your writing”, where Mr. Bransford pleads for specificity in our writing. He writes, “It’s so important to precisely articulate what you mean when you write, possibly to the point of feeling like you’re being pedantic. Err on the side of clarity.”
To be fair, his main point is that we should eliminate (if possible) “vague catchall[s] like 'this,' 'it,' or 'that' where it’s unclear what’s being referred to”. (Emphasis mine.)
The other post, by Alex Limberg of Ride the Pen, writing about… wait for it… "How to Create Drama and Plot Without a Single Facebook Entry (Shakespeare’s Macbeth)". Wait, what?
Everything can be answered by Macbeth; it’s kinda like the Bible in that regard.
Specifically, in this post, and in what seems like opposition to Mr. Bransford’s post imploring details and specificity, Mr. Limberg uses Macbeth to argue that our plots will be stronger, and more importantly, will have an easier job keeping readers engaged (and this is something we all dearly wish for, is it not?) because by not revealing things, being less specific, allows questions to form, not in our minds but in the readers', and if the question is sufficiently interesting, the reader will be motivated not to pitch their book, or Kindle or Nook or laptop against the wall protesting terminal boredom but rather, continue reading.
Clarity and suspense. Both are useful things to recall. One might say crucial to the author looking to find an audience. Still, they do seem at first blush to be in opposition.
No, each applies to its own circumstance, and both are indeed important.
I invite you to read both of the posts and see for yourself the points being made, and not only the points but examples to illustrate the positions.
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Thanks for reading. Comments welcome.
