Simplicity Rules

My husband tells me I’ve turned into a big nerd. I tell him this is no new state of affairs!

My Valentine’s Day request prompted his assessment of me. This year, I asked for subscriptions to Discover, Wired and Scientific American magazines.

While the subject matter of these magazines is fascinating (yes, I am a big nerd!), what I really love about them is the writing. “Ice Fishing for Neutrinos,” the art of failure and thorium-based nuclear reactors could all be very complicated and dull subjects. But not in the hands of talented writers like Anil Ananthaswamy, Jonah Lehrer and Richard Martin. These writers manage to find the story behind the science and turn complicated, nerdy subjects into accessible, entertaining articles.

I love it! All good content — be it a 140-character Tweet or a 1,300 word article — is a story. The more captivating the story, the more powerfully it will motivate your reader. Your goal, as a writer, graphic designer or plain old storyteller, is to tell your story in such a way that how you communicate it doesn’t get in the way.

In short? Simplicity rules. Break your story down into its simplest bits, and then simplify some more. You will find elegance in brevity and sublime in the simple. Give it a try and see what happens!