Several short sentences about writing by Verlyn Klinkenborg

I’ve picked up Several short sentences on recommendation by Jason Fried (37 Signals, Basecamp). Jason has this unique down to earth/common sense demeanor I have always found refreshing in the tech startup space.

In my mind he’s the Knight of early Nike’s days, when they’ve done things for the love of doing things. When business was a side effect of your interests. When to rebel against the norm was fun and not a clever marketing ruse.

The author of the book, Verlyn is cut from the same cloth. Immediately he makes it clear that this is a personal philosophy. He keeps things short, mostly simple and threads the fine line of writing a manifesto without once calling it as such.

“Everything in this book is meant to be tested all over again, by you. You decide what works for you. There’s no gospel here, no orthodoxy, no dogma.

The widowed sentences breaking down the page make for a poetic and zen-like reading. “Notice then let go,” Verlyn says, to what end the author doesn’t share. To exercise the muscle? To bring in divination? The stoical belief in the act and action brushes the proclamation of not wanting to be more than it delivers: “Allow your thinking to adjust your intentions in the light of your discoveries.”

“Noticing is a pinpoint of awareness. It’s catching your sleeve on the thorn of the thing you notice and paying attention as you free yourself.”

Will reading Several short sentences make you a better writer? Yes. How? You’ll question the basics of your education on writing. If you’ve been an observant writer for a while, don’t expect to gain much.

There’s a tendency to take the book itself as an example of its message. Certainly it tries to be one. There is advice applicable everywhere - write shorter, to the point, curl the words for effect when applicable. And then its form which I couldn’t see successful in a business setting where the majority of readers are used to a certain way of writing.

Pro tip: read it twice over. On second reading many of its nuances became clear.

Lessons

Unlearn what they taught you in academia. Complexity doesn’t equal smart, chronological order is up to you, inspiration is a crutch. When Verlyn talks about the two mental models of long and complex to sound elaborate and the second of genius poets struck by inspiration:

“Both models are completely useless.”

Short sentences are simple blocks that are easier to build with.

Short brings out the key message and to connect, elevate the other short sentences into readable whole. Both the reader and writer benefit. Throughout the book there's a clear repeated concept of pennies make a dollar and dollars make a million.

“Strong, lengthy sentences are really just strong, short sentences joined in various ways.”

Writers restrict themselves by rules given by others, by craving ideal conditions to create, by avoiding the work and calling it natural.

“Talking is natural. Writing isn’t.”

Meaning is not everything.

Focus on what you say and how you say it, rhythm included. How you say things is the most important to build authority.

“Know what each sentence says, what it doesn’t say, and what it implies. Pay attention to rhythm, first and last.”

“No subject is so good it can redeem indifferent writing.”

“The purpose of a sentence is to say what it has to say but also to be itself, not merely a substrate for the extraction of meaning.”

Respect your reader.

“The persistent effort to predetermine and overgovern the reader’s response.”

“Write for reader you can trust and the need to overexplain will disappear.”

Apply constant analysis and revision as you write.

Here’s where I mostly disagreed. The more you think of what you are doing, the less creative you get. This has been proven over and over by research on Flow. Verlyn purposefully ignores the findings and says the flow is for a reader but never a writer. In his mind the constant practice brings about a natural state of flow when writing. By the virtue of being almost 40 years apart in age, I’ll give him the benefit of a doubt. There’s merit to thinking through a full sentence before putting the pen down. The quality has increased, but the output dramatically decreased. From my own experience it worked for my One Page Stories when I limited the space and time while writing.

“In other words, “flow” is often a synonym for ignorance and laziness. It’s also a sign of haste, the urge to be done.”

Noticing is key to writing.

Nothing new here. Be mindful and keen in what you see and experience. I’d substitute noticing with observation, albeit in the book the two are used slightly differently. Verlyn tends to be married to his specific words even though outside of his personal world, they mean the same. Pre-noticing - common understanding of the world, or in other words your unique perspective. Noticing is fueled by the writer’s interests, in other words what they are passionate about. This unique view of the world can infect the reader.

“If you notice something, it’s because it’s important. But what you notice depends on what you allow yourself to notice and that depends on what you feel authorized, permitted to notice.”

Grant yourself authority, validate your own philosophy.

Yes! How freeing. How rebellious. How dangerous.

“Who’s going to give you authority to feel that what you notice is important? It will have to be you.”

Practical tips.

“Many writers try to make the first sentence do too much.”

“The second sentence doesn't need to be second.”

“When you respect the reader, you don’t need the clunky logical explainers: Therefore, However, In Fact…”

“Writer’s most important tool is the ability to speak to the reader in silence.”

“Writers worry about these shapes and their dictates long before they’re able to make sentences worth reading.”

“Your prose is going to be read against two backdrops - what the read knows about reading and what they know about life.”

Style stems from your interests, noticing, clarity and confidence. Or when we translate: passion, observation, unique perspective and command of the medium.

“In the pursuit of clarity, style reveals itself.”

Testimony is the purpose of writing. There’s an underlying belief in the individual’s unique perspective being the top of the pinnacle, above what science and logic can produce.

“Writing doesn’t prove anything… It does something much better. It attests. It witnesses. It shares your interest in what you noticed… Proof is for mathematicians. Logic is for philosophers. We have testimony.”