Monday memo #61
Explain something complex in one perfect sentence.
The Monday memo is food for thought to fuel your week.
Hi everyone,
In one of my earlier memos I talked about Hemingway and his way of getting started with a lot of his writing was just to write one true sentence, and I think that’s a beautiful thing.
I’ve also talked about boiling things down, and that’s also a beautiful thing, when it’s done well. Today I want to put those two together, and ask you to think about something that you’re working on right now, something maybe that’s puzzling you. A project, a personal goal, a habit, something to do with your life, anything that’s meaningful, something that has gotten complex and hard to explain to other people, maybe even hard to explain to yourself.
Now give yourself the challenge of writing one clear sentence that explains it perfectly.
The power of putting your highly complex and nuanced thoughts into a single sentence is not just about reducing it down to the most basic level. It’s a constraint, designed to force you to think carefully about what exactly you want to say. It’s like writing poetry. It’s about how much of that complexity and nuance you can pack into a few simple, well-crafted words, perfectly positioned relative to each other.
If you think your idea is too complex for a sentence, consider e=Mc². The essence of the universe boiled down to one simple equation. Is your idea more complex than that? I doubt it.
Exercise.
That’s your exercise for the week. Think about something that you’re struggling with, something that you’re having trouble wrapping your head around, something complex in your life, and try and condense it down into one simple, elegant, beautiful sentence.
If you’re a member of the school working in Project Studio right now, this is very relevant to this week’s work. See if you can explain the essence of your project in a single sentence. A creative project is about exploration, so you might want to consider framing it as a question.
Hone it, refine it, craft it. Write one crisp, beautiful sentence. A single line of a perfect poem. See what happens.
Membership.
If you’re not a member yet, what are you waiting for? Join us in the project studio, where encourage each other, share ideas and inspiration, and push each other to do our best creative work.
If you’re already a member, thank you. You’re making this possible, and your membership is what gives me the confidence and encouragement to keep going.
More information for members is below the fold.