K.I.S.S.

Good morning!


I think one of the best pieces of advice I have ever received was "Write how you speak"  and the follow up to that is "Don't use big words just because you think it makes you sound smart.  So what if it takes two little words to say the same as a big pompous word, your not out to impress them with how many big words you can use, your out to entertain them without sending them to the dictionary."  Let me tell you, most of my English/Writing teachers were the bomb!! 

I only bring this up because I am finding that I see more and more of writers pulling out these huge words that send me looking for my dictionary.  Now, I make no bones about it, I am a older, we will say 40ish, woman who may or may not have been slowly forgetting more than what some of these youngsters may ever know, however, I feel no need to try to impress my readers because I can spell discombobulated and know how to use it in a sentence.  I do know if I can say "she was confused" it makes the same point and my readers have a clear understanding of what I mean and I have discombobulated none of them in the process.  

Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.  I also need to point out, it's not that I think my readers don't have the vocabulary to know what I am talking about, it's that I think that its a smoother read when you don't take a shotgun and pepper a piece with the biggest words you can find.

Write how you speak.  That is how I speak, this is how I write.  It's simple.  When writing that is what I find I like to do...the K.I.S.S. method.  "Keep it simple, stupid."  I actually mentally chant that before going in to do a rewrite or an extensive edit.  No joke.  I have to remind myself or I can be as bad as some of these other writers are.  

I just thought I would share what was on my mind when I woke up this morning.  Yes, this is exactly what was on my mind as I took my ankle biters out for their morning walk. 


Have a great day, see you tomorrow.