Just Because You Can Doesn't Mean You Should

Picture this. I'm all set to go to the beach with my squadrons of devoted friends. I'm rocking capris and a tshirt, clogs, and a tasteful sun hat. In my trusty tote bag, I've got my swimsuit, and a jacket in case it cools down.

Now picture this. My capris have "Pink" written on the butt, and my tshirt is emblazoned with "Aero 87 NY." My clogs try to be inconspicuous, with "Ugg" printed on the back. I keep coughing and muttering, "My hat's from American Eagle. It was $20." My tote bag screams "Coach." It holds my swimsuit, unabashedly sporting the Abercrombie logo, and my jacket, which has "Hollister" scrawled on the front.

Tone. It. Down.

Seriously. These are all great brands. I don't even have a problem with wearing several of them together--- maybe even all of them--- provided that the brand names aren't all being flaunted in this commercialized way. Let's be honest. When I show up at the beach wearing this ensemble, I look like a billboard with glasses. (Anne Klein glasses, for the record.)

 

Writing is like dressing in name brands. They can both be uncomfortable, and they both come with social implications. Most importantly, you absolutely cannot overdo it. Because then it becomes tacky.

 

You need to have self-confidence. You need to have enough security in your self-image that you can wear your second-best shoes to school. You have to have enough security in yourself as a writer that you don't need to use gimmicks to prove it to the rest of the world.

 

You need to be aware of tone. There's a time and a place for everything. You need to be able to say to yourself, "Okay. I'm staying home and watching tv and eating marshmallows. I can shelve the wedges and wear bedroom slippers." You need to be able to say, "Okay. I'm writing from the POV of a recently orphaned gangster. I can let the SAT words take a little time off."

 

There's a tone to this blog post. It's a chatty, personal tone. It's not the same tone that I use when I'm writing a research paper. Both tones are acceptable in different situations, much in the way that it's inappropriate to wear flip-flops during the winter. Trust me. This *is* inappropriate. I've tried it.

 

You need to accept imperfection. There might be a better, classier way to phrase something, but you need to think about the context of what you're writing. You don't need to imbue every paragraph with mellifluously flowing description, depending on what you're writing about, because that's called purple prose. Parallel sentence structure and alliteration and other literary devices--- use them at the respective time, because overkill is not glamourous. And that mellifluous imbuing thing = overkill. You don't want to be that girl who colour-coordinates her bracelets with her socks. (Okay, so I do that. We're all works in progress.)

 

You need to avoid pretension/pretentiousness, and use discretion. Don't bloat your writing when you're writing a brief, casual scene; don't drench yourself in makeup and jewelry for a trip to the grocery store. All the metaphor and innuendo--- all the eyeshadow and dangly earrings--- should be saved for when you're really trying to make an impression.

 

Of course, you always want to dress to look your best. And you always want your writing to be the best that it can be. But it's all about security. You need to believe that you're pretty, and you look just as good in a tshirt and leggings as you do in dark denim and a form-fitting top. You need to believe that your writing speaks for itself, and you're not trying to prove anything. Yes, you have the means to pay $90 for Abercrombie jeans. Yes, you have the writing skills to make every sentence drip with magic. But not every occasion calls for that. So deduce which ones do and which don't, and dress accordingly.

 

Daily prompt: Take an excerpt from your own writing (or write something entirely new) and break it down. Phrase everything the simplest way possible; no complex sentence structure, and no words with more than two or so syllables. Though the writing will probably not be improved by this exercise, and it plausibly could suffer, this will help you to analyze yourself, and maybe discern where you need to tone it down. Remember, always save both drafts--- as demonstrated by my huffy post yesterday, you'll regret it if you don't--- and feel free to post before-and-afters of <1000 words in the comments below. Happy first day of Easter break!