There is certainly an elegance to less. In painting the general rule of thumb is to limit values to no more than three or four on the value scale. Anything beyond that confuses the eye. Color harmony is also restricted to a narrow palette, which the tonalist painters pared down even more. Having said that, I constantly battle my Microsoft 365 email suggestions which try to sanitize the individuality out of my own expression. I also thrive off organization, but I find that detrimental in my art studio - having periods of disorganization and mess is essential to the creative process. When I used to write strategy presentations for clients in my old consulting business I would sit in my office going through reams of notes on legal pads. Once I'd crossed off all the notes on one page, I'd ball up the sheet of paper and throw it across the room, until I was up to my elbows in paper balls. I wouldn't allow them to be picked up until the presentation was completed, which full disclosure, I always did myself!
I am currently designing a new AI economic platform, the dashboard has 21 main product categories and all of the continents, the color swatch is too much on the eyes, so I am pruning it, your point about a painters paring down helped enormously. Now I will settle on different shades instead of 21 unique product colors... thanks for that clever nudge..
How I hate how all the suggestions are sanitizing our individuality out of our expression.
And I did /do the same thing when writing or doing presentations. Wads of paper from legal pads, which , once typed into the computer, get a LINE scratched across the words, fill a room that becomes cluttered with the remains of my creative expression. This isn't the past for me. I still do this for it is how my brain words best, for the draft.
There is a satisfying glory viewing a room of wadded up balls of paper, and holding in my hands a creative outcome ready for public consumption.
Thank you for the article. I've tried for years to follow William Morris's "Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful" ... but without success. Garage, workshop & cellars stuffed full. On the other hand, being brought up in post-war "waste not, want not", it's a fine line. But do I need a cutlery set from both lots of grandparents? Interestingly I designated 2025 to 'getting my house in order' which includes fixing roof and decluttering. I'll get back to you in December.
It is not an easy task. I've been fortunate to move a couple of continents so have had several major clean-outs. And regularly declutter unnecessary things such as clothes! But I am a stickler for books and certain works of art, plus anything from my daughter, I just cannot bring myself to donate any of her 'things' especially any paintings, paper mâché and the like.. gosh they take up space!
We also have artwork from the 'children'? (aged 37-47) and keep boxes of clothes & stuff so they can travel light when they visit. Never mind a complete weaving studio with looms, yarns, fleeces and yesteryear samples & projects.
I moved two -three times a year growing up which made me a champion at NOT keeping things! I was given ONE box to fill, that's it. When, I moved across the country, I owned two boxes of things, including books and clothing. But, once I owned a home, it was sheer joy NOT to say, oh no, I can't keep this because I'm moving.
Downsizing after selling my large home helped the decluttering but OH it is so difficult. So, let me say, I regret with deep intensity the books I gave away. Yes, they were donated but so often I am looking on my shelf saying, where is it, before I realize, it's gone. And sometimes, I need to buy it again, especially one of the older children's book I own. I had 5000 book at one point. I took photos of my sons' projects, but, it really isn't the same.
Gee- I'm not really helping your decluttering mindset here , am I? Just saying, you can always give away later, but , you can't retrieve once it's , so maybe you do want to keep your grandparents cutlery set, for now ....
I have also re-bought books I gave away, so yes, I'm reluctant on that one too. And my specialist philosophy of technology books are now £100+ each if you can get them at all. Ditto Veronika's amazing collection of dictionaries. But I'm beginning to feel weighed down with all the stuff. All five kids seem to 'travel light' - I'm in awe and admiration. Then again, when they visit, all the stuff (including games from childhood, etc) seems to them to give a 'homely' feel.
I laughed! So YOU have all their games et al? Well, that is why they can seem to ‘travel light’. My children left their ‘stuff’ at my home, until I downsized, and still , I had to take some as they were not living in the area. Each time they visit, I make them go through some of their past stored at my small place. Easy to travel ight when someone else keeps your history.
I regret the loss of the children’s books as they are no longer in print, even if I wanted to re-buy them. Older books were gorgeous, and well written. I own a few, found at estate sales, but too often they are musky and can’t be saved.
But, I know what you mean about being weighed down with STUFF. I feel the same and I am also decluttering. One way is putting all my handwritten writing into the computer. There goes boxes and boxes. I dread to think of a possible collapse of technology, which makes me still want to keep the paper, which of course defeats the purpose!
We had an original set of Harry Potter - got given away; now a collectors item. Hmmm. The question is do I get rid of 400 CDs since they're now all on an old computer dedicated to music.
Writing: I have a habit of unloading a raw brain dump, many pages of pure drivel. Then I'd sleep on it. Then the next day I would edit it savagely, usually paring down 10 pages of incoherent babble to 1, maybe 2, pages of something nearly coherent.
Art: Is this little detail extraneous? I think I'll leave it out, maybe just hint at it.
Code: Oh please, don't get me started on this. Hack heaped up hack - for the purpose of fixing a bug in the earliest hack. Worst of all when it's all system calls in C/C++.
Firefox is a prime example of this. Version 4 was the gold standard. Then Mozilla just piled on "improvements", along with security "patches" - or should I say "kludges" - eating up ever more CPU time and memory. Of course, we can also blame the millions of new Javascript libraries/frameworks. Just take one peak at the code in any substack page and you'll see what I mean. Substack is a huge resource hog. It's not necessarily spaghetti, but it is a huge heap of extraneous code, IMHO.
Brilliant points, thank YOU. I know that "savage edit" of a raw first draft all too well. It’s often where the real thinking happens, in the clearing away of the initial chaos.
You are so right about the life cycle of beloved software. That journey from a clean, functional standard to a resource-intensive behemoth is a story we see over and over. Each "kludge" seems like a good idea in isolation, until you're left with a mountain of technical debt.
It's the same fundamental tension everywhere: the easy fix versus the elegant solution.
Still smiling at this phrase. "the domestic art of decluttering a kitchen drawer.” So true.So true.
Writing a blog about fifteen years ago taught me how to Cut CuT CUT everything extraneous. Back then, the more concise the thoughts, the more likely it was read, unlike today where Substack articles are routinely tagged at 20 minute reads. While I appreciate and enjoy in-depth articles, there are times I restrain myself from offering editing suggestions. ( Perhaps this crosses your mind occasionally as well when reading. 😉 )
It is the mark of an excellent writer that all writing is reread with a discerning ear, listening to what distracts, and removing it. Conflating complexity with voluminous wording is not sophistication. Done well, conveying complexity offers concise wording that generates concise understanding. You do this well, Colin.
As I am not a programmer, I was unaware that a good AI neural network learns when to forget. Yet, on reflection, isn’t that how human brains learn from birth? Information continually accumulates, requiring readjustment to new knowledge, and necessary discarding of previously accepted understandings; which is paramount to faster neural retrieval.
When I receive a Google document from a client to proofread, I type that phrase, "Less is More" at the top in large font as a reminder, and comment, have you done this? Often, they forgot- again!
As you said, what we remove defines what we want the reader to notice. And, after all, isn't that our purpose for writing?
Thank you so much, I appreciate this immensely.. and in my edit mind align with your "Cut CuT CUT" philosophy. Although I smiled at your observation about restraining the editorial impulse, it’s a feeling I know all too well! It’s the curse and blessing of an editor's eye.
I truly like the parallel you drew with respect to AI "forgetting" and the fundamental process of human learning. You are exactly right; our minds are constantly pruning old pathways to make new ones stronger. It's the same principle on a neurological level. Although I believe hypnosis claims always to bring back memories... whereas AI, at least LLM memory is still very much in early stage of development.
Your ritual of putting "Less is More" at the top of a client document is a brilliant and practical habit, I do not but maybe may try that! Your point about the evolution from concise blogging to sprawling online articles is so sharp. I agree, it feels like the cultural pendulum is always swinging between brevity and depth, and the true challenge is to achieve the latter without sacrificing the former.
Wisdom isn't just about what we know, but about the grace with which we release what no longer serves us.
Ah yes, the editorial impulse can be both a curse and blessing, especially when it's necessary in both a career teaching students to write well and in being a writer. That editing mode saturated me in grade six, thanks to excellent grammar teacher; it’s impossible to ignore. Although, I do temporarily ignore it. For instance, placed above the treadmills where I run is this phrase in 10 meter high black bold lettering:
No Judgment. Apparently, this is acceptable now, but my training in UK spelling defiantly glares at where the 'e' should be.
Your last line resonates strongly with me. Grace is a word I use often for it is fused with gaining wisdom. Wisdom often comes later in life; it follows from understanding that in order to continue to grow, we must release that which no longer serves us. Well stated, Colin.
This is precisely what I do with each of my wordcasts / chapters. From the first draft onwards, far more pruning than adding .... which doesn't mean I couldn't do more of "less is more..."
Haha, a brilliant and fair point Norman! I guess sometimes you have to build up the monster to show everyone why it needs to be slain. I feel it's an essential, and wonderfully ironic, tool for making the case against itself :-)
I am compulsive about trimming words myself but often can’t bring myself to trim anaphorae because they feel like such a familiar part of natural language (and thought).
Also, I’ve been amazed over the past few decades how the word “often” has been replaced by “oftentimes” in both writing and speech, at least in America. Those two extra syllables feel so irrelevant to me.
I just checked, I do not use often, often and never to almost never oftentimes. Out of 181 posts on Substack I have used often 11 times... oftentimes zero...
From memory, I rarely come across oftentimes in spoken English (here in Europe), unless with non-native speakers and it is a translation from their native language.
I am also a stickler for the pronunciation of often, with a 't' unlike the offen that is seeping into our every day speech. I just had a conversation with my voice activated ChatGPT and 'it'/female voice said offen.. until I suggested she use the traditional British often :-)
After many years of resisting I feel a great sense of satisfaction when I prune unnecessary words, sentences and paragraphs from my writing. It always improves my message (and the likelihood the reader makes it to the end).
There is certainly an elegance to less. In painting the general rule of thumb is to limit values to no more than three or four on the value scale. Anything beyond that confuses the eye. Color harmony is also restricted to a narrow palette, which the tonalist painters pared down even more. Having said that, I constantly battle my Microsoft 365 email suggestions which try to sanitize the individuality out of my own expression. I also thrive off organization, but I find that detrimental in my art studio - having periods of disorganization and mess is essential to the creative process. When I used to write strategy presentations for clients in my old consulting business I would sit in my office going through reams of notes on legal pads. Once I'd crossed off all the notes on one page, I'd ball up the sheet of paper and throw it across the room, until I was up to my elbows in paper balls. I wouldn't allow them to be picked up until the presentation was completed, which full disclosure, I always did myself!
I am currently designing a new AI economic platform, the dashboard has 21 main product categories and all of the continents, the color swatch is too much on the eyes, so I am pruning it, your point about a painters paring down helped enormously. Now I will settle on different shades instead of 21 unique product colors... thanks for that clever nudge..
Unless you’re going for the Fruit Loops look!
hahaha - that would be the competitions approach:-)
LOL- Oh my, did I relate to your words here!
How I hate how all the suggestions are sanitizing our individuality out of our expression.
And I did /do the same thing when writing or doing presentations. Wads of paper from legal pads, which , once typed into the computer, get a LINE scratched across the words, fill a room that becomes cluttered with the remains of my creative expression. This isn't the past for me. I still do this for it is how my brain words best, for the draft.
There is a satisfying glory viewing a room of wadded up balls of paper, and holding in my hands a creative outcome ready for public consumption.
Thank you for the article. I've tried for years to follow William Morris's "Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful" ... but without success. Garage, workshop & cellars stuffed full. On the other hand, being brought up in post-war "waste not, want not", it's a fine line. But do I need a cutlery set from both lots of grandparents? Interestingly I designated 2025 to 'getting my house in order' which includes fixing roof and decluttering. I'll get back to you in December.
It is not an easy task. I've been fortunate to move a couple of continents so have had several major clean-outs. And regularly declutter unnecessary things such as clothes! But I am a stickler for books and certain works of art, plus anything from my daughter, I just cannot bring myself to donate any of her 'things' especially any paintings, paper mâché and the like.. gosh they take up space!
Wish you much success with your decluttering.
We also have artwork from the 'children'? (aged 37-47) and keep boxes of clothes & stuff so they can travel light when they visit. Never mind a complete weaving studio with looms, yarns, fleeces and yesteryear samples & projects.
Very hard to let go of some things … but our children will appreciate it later in life.
I moved two -three times a year growing up which made me a champion at NOT keeping things! I was given ONE box to fill, that's it. When, I moved across the country, I owned two boxes of things, including books and clothing. But, once I owned a home, it was sheer joy NOT to say, oh no, I can't keep this because I'm moving.
Downsizing after selling my large home helped the decluttering but OH it is so difficult. So, let me say, I regret with deep intensity the books I gave away. Yes, they were donated but so often I am looking on my shelf saying, where is it, before I realize, it's gone. And sometimes, I need to buy it again, especially one of the older children's book I own. I had 5000 book at one point. I took photos of my sons' projects, but, it really isn't the same.
Gee- I'm not really helping your decluttering mindset here , am I? Just saying, you can always give away later, but , you can't retrieve once it's , so maybe you do want to keep your grandparents cutlery set, for now ....
I have also re-bought books I gave away, so yes, I'm reluctant on that one too. And my specialist philosophy of technology books are now £100+ each if you can get them at all. Ditto Veronika's amazing collection of dictionaries. But I'm beginning to feel weighed down with all the stuff. All five kids seem to 'travel light' - I'm in awe and admiration. Then again, when they visit, all the stuff (including games from childhood, etc) seems to them to give a 'homely' feel.
I laughed! So YOU have all their games et al? Well, that is why they can seem to ‘travel light’. My children left their ‘stuff’ at my home, until I downsized, and still , I had to take some as they were not living in the area. Each time they visit, I make them go through some of their past stored at my small place. Easy to travel ight when someone else keeps your history.
I regret the loss of the children’s books as they are no longer in print, even if I wanted to re-buy them. Older books were gorgeous, and well written. I own a few, found at estate sales, but too often they are musky and can’t be saved.
But, I know what you mean about being weighed down with STUFF. I feel the same and I am also decluttering. One way is putting all my handwritten writing into the computer. There goes boxes and boxes. I dread to think of a possible collapse of technology, which makes me still want to keep the paper, which of course defeats the purpose!
We had an original set of Harry Potter - got given away; now a collectors item. Hmmm. The question is do I get rid of 400 CDs since they're now all on an old computer dedicated to music.
Addition is nature’s instinct for survival; subtraction is humanity’s act of self-assurance.
Nature does nothing without surplus.
It piles and piles, trying to quell its anxiety.
But the moment a human knows they are enough, they begin to let go.
Then, life becomes elegant, choice becomes virtue, and existence grows lighter.
Just as nature accumulates in summer and pares back in winter,
so too must human life embrace its own seasons of gathering and letting go.
Thank you for this beautiful reflection. The wisdom, as you so eloquently put it, truly lies in knowing which season we are in.
So many differing examples that I can relate to.
Writing: I have a habit of unloading a raw brain dump, many pages of pure drivel. Then I'd sleep on it. Then the next day I would edit it savagely, usually paring down 10 pages of incoherent babble to 1, maybe 2, pages of something nearly coherent.
Art: Is this little detail extraneous? I think I'll leave it out, maybe just hint at it.
Code: Oh please, don't get me started on this. Hack heaped up hack - for the purpose of fixing a bug in the earliest hack. Worst of all when it's all system calls in C/C++.
Firefox is a prime example of this. Version 4 was the gold standard. Then Mozilla just piled on "improvements", along with security "patches" - or should I say "kludges" - eating up ever more CPU time and memory. Of course, we can also blame the millions of new Javascript libraries/frameworks. Just take one peak at the code in any substack page and you'll see what I mean. Substack is a huge resource hog. It's not necessarily spaghetti, but it is a huge heap of extraneous code, IMHO.
Brilliant points, thank YOU. I know that "savage edit" of a raw first draft all too well. It’s often where the real thinking happens, in the clearing away of the initial chaos.
You are so right about the life cycle of beloved software. That journey from a clean, functional standard to a resource-intensive behemoth is a story we see over and over. Each "kludge" seems like a good idea in isolation, until you're left with a mountain of technical debt.
It's the same fundamental tension everywhere: the easy fix versus the elegant solution.
The elegant solution will never make the deadline. It's always due yesterday.
Still smiling at this phrase. "the domestic art of decluttering a kitchen drawer.” So true.So true.
Writing a blog about fifteen years ago taught me how to Cut CuT CUT everything extraneous. Back then, the more concise the thoughts, the more likely it was read, unlike today where Substack articles are routinely tagged at 20 minute reads. While I appreciate and enjoy in-depth articles, there are times I restrain myself from offering editing suggestions. ( Perhaps this crosses your mind occasionally as well when reading. 😉 )
It is the mark of an excellent writer that all writing is reread with a discerning ear, listening to what distracts, and removing it. Conflating complexity with voluminous wording is not sophistication. Done well, conveying complexity offers concise wording that generates concise understanding. You do this well, Colin.
As I am not a programmer, I was unaware that a good AI neural network learns when to forget. Yet, on reflection, isn’t that how human brains learn from birth? Information continually accumulates, requiring readjustment to new knowledge, and necessary discarding of previously accepted understandings; which is paramount to faster neural retrieval.
When I receive a Google document from a client to proofread, I type that phrase, "Less is More" at the top in large font as a reminder, and comment, have you done this? Often, they forgot- again!
As you said, what we remove defines what we want the reader to notice. And, after all, isn't that our purpose for writing?
Thank you so much, I appreciate this immensely.. and in my edit mind align with your "Cut CuT CUT" philosophy. Although I smiled at your observation about restraining the editorial impulse, it’s a feeling I know all too well! It’s the curse and blessing of an editor's eye.
I truly like the parallel you drew with respect to AI "forgetting" and the fundamental process of human learning. You are exactly right; our minds are constantly pruning old pathways to make new ones stronger. It's the same principle on a neurological level. Although I believe hypnosis claims always to bring back memories... whereas AI, at least LLM memory is still very much in early stage of development.
Your ritual of putting "Less is More" at the top of a client document is a brilliant and practical habit, I do not but maybe may try that! Your point about the evolution from concise blogging to sprawling online articles is so sharp. I agree, it feels like the cultural pendulum is always swinging between brevity and depth, and the true challenge is to achieve the latter without sacrificing the former.
Wisdom isn't just about what we know, but about the grace with which we release what no longer serves us.
Ah yes, the editorial impulse can be both a curse and blessing, especially when it's necessary in both a career teaching students to write well and in being a writer. That editing mode saturated me in grade six, thanks to excellent grammar teacher; it’s impossible to ignore. Although, I do temporarily ignore it. For instance, placed above the treadmills where I run is this phrase in 10 meter high black bold lettering:
No Judgment. Apparently, this is acceptable now, but my training in UK spelling defiantly glares at where the 'e' should be.
Your last line resonates strongly with me. Grace is a word I use often for it is fused with gaining wisdom. Wisdom often comes later in life; it follows from understanding that in order to continue to grow, we must release that which no longer serves us. Well stated, Colin.
This is precisely what I do with each of my wordcasts / chapters. From the first draft onwards, far more pruning than adding .... which doesn't mean I couldn't do more of "less is more..."
Sometimes, it is almost a cathartic exercise, letting go of the 'unnecessary'. But not always easy:-)
it takes a surprising amount of time to decide which bits to let go of.... 🤫 💭
Very rich information 👌💡!
Great points, Colin. How do you feel about anaphora :-)
Haha, a brilliant and fair point Norman! I guess sometimes you have to build up the monster to show everyone why it needs to be slain. I feel it's an essential, and wonderfully ironic, tool for making the case against itself :-)
I am compulsive about trimming words myself but often can’t bring myself to trim anaphorae because they feel like such a familiar part of natural language (and thought).
I agree, they are natural… I like the relentless, additive rhythm of anaphora.
Also, I’ve been amazed over the past few decades how the word “often” has been replaced by “oftentimes” in both writing and speech, at least in America. Those two extra syllables feel so irrelevant to me.
I just checked, I do not use often, often and never to almost never oftentimes. Out of 181 posts on Substack I have used often 11 times... oftentimes zero...
From memory, I rarely come across oftentimes in spoken English (here in Europe), unless with non-native speakers and it is a translation from their native language.
I am also a stickler for the pronunciation of often, with a 't' unlike the offen that is seeping into our every day speech. I just had a conversation with my voice activated ChatGPT and 'it'/female voice said offen.. until I suggested she use the traditional British often :-)
After many years of resisting I feel a great sense of satisfaction when I prune unnecessary words, sentences and paragraphs from my writing. It always improves my message (and the likelihood the reader makes it to the end).
Exactly Ross. The final outcome after pruning and honing the words makes it more likely that the reader will be able to benefit from the piece.