Cutting words and reaping the benefits
On the inverse relationship between good writing and word counts and my first syndicated piece
Good writing is like an expensive haircut. The end result is as much about what’s been taken out and how it was removed, even though we only see what remains. It should read effortlessly and elegantly—the most natural-seeming version of itself that it could possibly be. But unless there’s literally nothing left, there’s always more material that could be cut. With the advent of digital media, these edits can even be made post-publish. So how does one tell if a piece is done?
This has been at the top of my mind as my present neurochemistry leads me to produce at prodigious rates with a level of ease and certainty I wouldn’t have previously believed possible. However, I am fortunate to be surrounded by those who are willing to share their truest reactions to my work. Yesterday evening, after speaking with Alex about a draft of an essay I’d been excited to publish, I realized she was right: This wasn’t my best work. The concept and themes at the center of the piece felt clichéd, to begin with, and were further strained by having been written and rewritten over the course of several weeks. So while the parts I like might make their way into future pieces, it’s going back on the shelf for now.
It was also at the fore when The New Yorker’s Kyle Chayka offered to syndicate my essay on my raving origins on his One Thing Substack—but only if I could come up with a version that was 700 words long, down from the original 1850. This felt like an impossible task, which it ultimately was. I did, however, get it down to 800 words by cutting every b-plot, striking entire sentences of descriptive flourish, and removing all appearances of aphorism and cliché. I thought the piece would suffer from these losses, but after rereading both, I might actually prefer the truncated version. You can click the preview below to reach your own conclusions.
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