A recent discussion on Twitter centered around people sharing their #unpopularopinion. Here is mine: Music reviews are terrible writing. I loathe them. I believe that a moderately-trained circus monkey with a finger and a dictionary could write them just as effectively. (In fact in frustration I once wrote my own review of a fictional band).
On Tuesday my frustration boiled again. In an effort to find some new music I clicked on a new album by Black Flag. I’ve never heard of them before and hoped that I could at least learn what genre of music they play before taking a listen. I was met with this:
What The…, Black Flag’s 19th release in their genre-defining catalog, is a riveting progression for the band. Starting with its first track, the churning My Heart’s Pumping through to the searing Wallow in Despair, the album blazes through the music that is sure to brand the bars on your brain.
Thank you. Searing. Blazes. Bars on the Brain. I assume this is some sort of Metal music but I can’t quite determine what exactly this “genre-defining catalog” of music is. Although I do know it’s a riveting progression.
Seriously? What in the world is this author even talking about?
This got me to thinking about Christian writing. I wonder how often we sound like one of these ridiculously written music reviews. Talking in circles trying to be artsy and creative when all someone really wants is clarity.
Good writing—no matter how poetic—ought to make things more clear and not less. Consider these writing tips from C.S. Lewis:
- Always try to use the language so as to make quite clear what you mean and make sure your sentence couldn’t mean anything else.
- Always prefer the plain direct word to the long, vague one. Don’t implement promises, but keep them.
- Never use abstract nouns when concrete ones will do. If you mean ‘More people died’ don’t say ‘Mortality rose’.
- In writing, don’t use adjectives which merely tell us how you want us to feel about the thing you are describing. I mean, instead of telling us a thing was ‘terrible,’ describe it so that we’ll be terrified. Don’t say it was ‘delightful’, make us say ‘delightful’ when we’ve read the description. You see, all those words (horrifying, wonderful, hideous, exquisite) are only like saying to your reader “Please will you do my job for me?”
There is a reason why C.S. Lewis is still being read today. He was clear. Even when he was speaking on difficult topics or telling a children’s story you knew what Lewis was saying. He followed his own advice:
The way for a person to develop a style is (a) to know exactly what he wants to say, and (b) to be sure he is saying exactly that.
The reader, we must remember, does not start by knowing what we mean. If our words are ambiguous, our meaning will escape him.
I sometimes think that writing is like driving sheep down a road. If there is any gate open to the left or the right the reader will most certainly go into it.
So, I’m pleading with Christian writers. Be less like music reviewers and more like C.S. Lewis. Make every effort to be clear.
