Post History

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/35353
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/35353
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

# Einstein's Razor.

This is an opinion question. I write as simply as I can; but I also have a large vocabulary and I am a huge fan of word etymology (origins and derivations), and I detect or feel very subtle variations in what similar words mean or imply. This means I am often searching for exactly the right word. I won't choose a common word, like "sad", when I find that word too vague or broad. If I can't find a word for the precise feeling I want to convey, I will come up with several that better convey it (a metaphor or simile or description).

Flowery words or synonyms is something I find phony, pretentious. My job as a writer is to convey understanding precisely but as broadly as possible. Those two things are at odds with each other, so it becomes a difficult job. That is captured by something Albert Einstein once said to a student, that became known as

**_Einstein's Razor:_**  **"Everything should be kept as simple as possible, but no simpler."**

The second part may sound unnecessary, "as simple as possible" means it cannot possibly be simpler --- right?

No; what Einstein meant by this is **do not sacrifice accuracy for simplicity.** He was talking about theories in physics, but (still IMO) the same thing applies to writing. I want to convey something precisely, and I want to do it in a way that the broadest audience will understand it.

I (personally) do not want to be lauded by Literature professors if the cost of that is being rejected by most book buyers. I don't want ten critics to love me and ten thousand book buyers return my book as too dense to get through. I want to write something easy to read that people find fun.

I also believe that writing simply forces me to focus on the story and the characters and imagination, I am not hiding behind a thesaurus. That is the focus you see with Hemingway; his writing is transparent, it doesn't get in the way, and I think this makes it easier to be immersed; you never stumble over a word and lose that reading reverie.

Original score: 4