Less is more.
Compression, economy of words and Peruvian peppers.
As my friends can attest to, when I develop an interest in a subject I tend to go deep. When I develop a passion it sometimes boarders on an obsession as I attempt to achieve a high level of mastery and learn everything I can about the new interest. Friends jokingly have referred to me as “The Professor”.
Several years ago I got it in my head that I wanted to cultivate the Rocoto (Capsicum Pubescens) peppers, a spicy, juicy, thick-fleshed South American pepper and a staple in Peruvian cuisine, specifically ceviche, which I love. When diced into small chunks and marinated in fresh lime juice the flavor is exotic and amazing, going with everything from salad to steaks. I put it on everything, even my eggs in the morning.
For about 4 years I carefully germinated, nurtured, and tended to several dozen 8 gallon pepper plants, dotting a slope in our backyard complete with their own irrigation system. Dutifully fertilizing, hand picking insects off, and staking the growing plants until they produced their bounty of amazing fruit. Ceviche became a staple summer dish and each season my freezer got ever fuller with the bright red and orange flat vacuum bagged flash frozen peppers from the current harvest.
With this book emerging into my life as primary interest and focus I can see the craft of writing will be no different. As I listen voraciously to award winning writers on Master Class, downloading books to my kindle, and narrations on Audible I am doing a crash course on the craft of writing. I am finding it absolutely fascinating.
Realizing I can use words to impart feeling, sensation, and emotion in much the same way I have done with my studio arts in glass, sculpture, and print. Only words are even more powerful - as you can use them to set a very nuanced scene in the mind, teasing both the intellect and emotional centers of the brain. It brought me immense joy when after working a sentence over several dozen times, trying to describe an incoming wave I was about to surf in a scene within my prologue, that later that day while walking one of my dogs the word “looming” popped into my mind. It was perfect, and set the exact tone/feeling I wanted - replacing three other adjectives that didn’t truly capture what I was going for. It feels like crafting a jewel.
One of the philosophical writing values I am coming to embrace is the importance of compression - economy of words. Learning how to say more with less. Salman Rushdie suggests as an exercise trying to describe something in detail without using any adjectives! Neil Gaiman suggests writing a short story in less than two hundred words. I love this conceptually. When I was doing stone sculpture I gravitated to elegant forms with minimal detail, where the flowing lines had to be so refined and perfect to imply detail that didn’t exist. I really hope I can achieve that level of craft in my writing. I have a long way to go… but I am looking forward to the journey.
At the risk of violating Mr. Gaiman’s copyright I am including his beautiful short story below. A story with less than 100 words that packs a punch. (It’s even better when you hear him narrate it, as I did on Master Class.)
Nicolas was…
older than sin, and his beard could grow no whiter. He wanted to die.
The dwarfish natives of the Arctic caverns did not speak his language, but conversed in their own, twittering tongue, conducted incomprehensible rituals, when they were not actually working in the factories.
Once every year they forced him, sobbing and protesting, into Endless Night. During the journey he would stand near every child in the world, leave one of the dwarves' invisible gifts by its bedside. The children slept, frozen into time.
He envied Prometheus and Loki, Sisyphus and Judas. His punishment was harsher.
Ho.
Ho.
Ho.© 1998 Neil Gaiman
Loved the pic of the peppers AND the encouragment to write briefly and with skill. Thanks Tom.