When a Writer is Too Good
Should experienced writers dumb it down?
I am a freelance copywriter. I hone my craft whenever I can. I write thousands of words a week. I work hard to elevate my prose and instruct others to do the same.
But what happens when you’re too good? When you’re a big fish in a small pond?
Recently I was hired by a client who asked me to write Christian devotions for a new Bible app in the works. Not a problem at all. I’m very familiar with devotions as I’ve written several. With great excitement, I dove into my assignment and wrote a set of 5 polished devotions I was quite proud of.
The feedback I received, however, was not what I expected.
Let me take a moment to say I don’t believe everything I write to be the proper tone or perfect fit for the job. Sometimes you go into a writing project blind and the client expected something completely different than what you’ve offered them. I have no problem editing my work, as I was hired for a service and I want my clients to be happy with the content they were provided.
However, this client replied that my writing was “too good”. My voice was too elevated; they were looking for middle school/high school level so that everyone could understand.
I think I stared at that email for a solid minute. I had not sent them flowery prose. I did not write in King James’ English, nor did I bust out $10 words to sound well-educated. I might have used a “thus” and a “therefore” once or twice, maybe even an “in so doing”.
I don’t know what confused me more about their feedback, that good writing was a “bad thing” or that they wanted their devos to be no higher than middle school level. Keep in mind this Bible app is not for children.
Look, I get it, you want to reach as many people as you can. For that reason I edited my work and now, I keep their preference at the forefront of my mind every time I write for them. But it got me to thinking about the connection between elevated prose and increasing one’s knowledge.
Reading and studying what we read is the vehicle through which one’s knowledge and wisdom is grown. Unknown words or phrases give us opportunity to expand our horizons and become more cerebral ourselves. The idea behind dumbing it down to reach the masses, in my opinion, only serves to keep the masses uneducated.
That is not to say all writers should write to some unattainable Harvard-level prose, rather, that if one’s writing is not allowed a certain level of elevation, then what differentiates a writer making a living from a 7th grader writing a book report?
Not only does dumbing it down withhold a certain wisdom for the reader, it also penalizes the writer who has worked for years to polish their prose, their voice, and their tone. Writing to a middle-school level, if not purposefully done as an author of tween fiction, is the generic “off brand” of the craft.
It is the ground beef to the steak, the waxy cheese to the aged swiss, the box wine to the merlot. Or to put it another way, it is the paint-by-number to the Van Gogh.
Elevated writing does not need to sound pretentious, however, it also does not assume the reader is at middle-school level. And even if they are, people are generally smart and can figure things out by context.
Good writing can be had at any reading level. Some would argue it is hard to write at the middle school level, especially when you’re used to elevating your writing. It might shock you to know I agree with this. As a style of writing, a certain voice, a particular prose, a good writer can pull it off quite well.
Yet there is still a certain ceiling to the writing. It can go no higher than the limits placed on it. It is ascending foothills, not mountains. It is utilizing a handful of colors rather than an entire palette. It is making a child’s dress rather than a wedding gown.
One can still hike and paint and sew, but the student of the work, namely the reader, will never scale that mountain, see the color crimson, or experience the wonder of silk.
What are your thoughts? I’d love to hear them. Should a writer’s prose be dumbed down to reach the masses, or should the reader be elevated to soar on their imagination? Obviously, I am in the second camp. A writer has the reader’s imagination in the palm of their hand, and the reader is looking forward to a grand and majestic journey. If one never gets out of the schoolyard, one never learns anything beyond.
