How Writing is Like Making Kool-aid
Your idea is genius. Your writing is inspiring. Don’t water it down!
Growing up, I can remember one of my first amazing talents was mixing Kool-aid. This skill involved emptying a packet of magic powder into a plastic, gallon jug, followed by the right amount of sugar and then water. If the correct measurements were made, then it was a cup of pure delight!
However, if you inadvertently added too much water, you ended up with a diluted glass of flavored disappointment (sad face). Your childhood taste buds were left begging for the Kool-aid character’s explosive entrance.
This same impact reminds me of writing.
Too many times I’ve read articles (artiposts) with a great “flavor” in mind, but the ending product leaves your proverbial taste-buds wanting for more (again, sad face). All the correct ingredients are present in the article, and for good measure, the writer adds just a little bit more water.
Unlike the Kool-aid, which is forever lost with the addition of too much water, you have the opportunity when writing to remove the extra water and return the reader’s experience back to what you intended.
When editing your article, you need a critical eye for any material that distracts from your true purpose. Sometimes this means cutting out whole sentences and paragraphs–no matter how clever and amazingly brilliant they are on their own merits.
Question: Does this sentence detract from the flow of the article?Answer: Delete it.Question: Does this paragraph add to the main point that I’m trying to make to the reader?Answer: Delete it.
Following this converts your watered-down idea into the sweet-happiness-inducing-drink that you intended for the reader; leaving a satisfying grin on their Kool-aid mustached face.
Win!
Bonus Tip: I was reading a great article by Forrest Dylan Bryant entitled “I Wrote a Novel Entirely in Evernote. Here’s How.” One idea that he had in creating a number of notes to work on your novel was to create a note titled “Deleted Scenes.” With this in mind, create a document—using your writing app of choice—to save the snippets of “genius” writing that you cut from your articles.
This not only stores your genius ideas for later use, but it can make you feel better about removing these gems from your current work. Nothing lost. Nothing wasted.
Featured Image: Pixabay
