Einstein’s Advice On Writing

Albert Einstein famously said, “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.”

However he meant it, it’s fine advice for writers in any medium. Maybe you thought we study theory, notation, orchestration, and advanced compositional tools to make our writing more complex.

No. We study it to make our writing as clear as possible. Our musical statements may still be very complex, but the more capable we are with those tools, the more simply we can make our complex statements.

The same for writing words: we study grammar, learn vocabulary, and read great writers not to be able to write more challenging texts, but to find ways to craft our ideas as simply as possible.

Don’t simplify your ideas, but strive to make them as clear as possible. Clarity carries weight and is more easily (and likely) shared.