The Love of Brevity

I have been editing my novel for the past several months, with a keen eye towards "less is more"--trim a few words off a tired sentence, and all of a sudden it is throbbing alive.  I have attempted, before, to cut words ruthlessly, to show no mercy, to pare down a paragraph like some Viking woman carves up a side of elk. 

But today, in my editing, I owned brevity differently.  Today I felt the pleasure of how "less" creates space, and how space cradles possibility.  Spaces holds an experience open to be re-imagined and created.  I get to conjure my own images, and make my own assumptions.  My eye slides eagerly to the next sentence.

In my editing today I accessed a clear, loving boundary, a boundary most tune in to what what serves.  It is the loving place inside that says:  enough. 

This word doesn't add; this word clogs and stifles.  But here, in this place, we can run on a little, flourish and dribble and I will eagerly follow along...

Brevity invites my favorite type of word: verbs. 

Verbs are the artillary of writing.  They tighten, squirt, indulge, shatter, blast, eavesdrop, tiptoe, anticipate, and dissolve. 

They're like tiny bullets that explode inside their targets; they accomplish a great deal in the minimal amount of space.  They're fantastic, almost erotic, objects that I encourage you to get to know intimately if you have any interest in writing.

Here's how far I go, in case you want to follow me:  Evaporate and dissolve seem like the same word, right?  They could easily be interchanged in a sentence; but try them on in your mouth.  Evaporate.  Dissolve.  To me, one spreads--the other doens't.  One seems to happen quickly while the other lingers, almost erodes...

This is what I do for you, my darling reader.  I try to give it to you exactly.  I hunt for the most delicious words and then offer them up in a sentence so smokin' that we can simultaneously shout out--Yes!  That's it! 

And also relax.  Because in the presence of the truth--when the inside matches the out...  I relax.