More Words is not More Content

What if I told you that the most powerful ideas are often the simplest? What if the essence of truly great content can be distilled into a single, compelling sentence?

For a lot of my life, I’ve thought that you have to expand an idea in a lot of detail for people to really get it. And I grant, there’s probably a bit of truth in that… in that people don’t necessarily grok things immediately. Analogies, examples, stories and things like that make you relatable, and thats helps them understand the content better.

But the craziest thing is, the ideas themselves are often really simple. All of the most important ideas in history can be distilled into a single sentence. When you have a piece of content, the core essence of it, if it’s any good at all, is one sentence. The core essence of it is really simple.

The Academic Leaning

I grew up with a bit of an academic leaning. I grew up in a family where education was considered valuable, and where the standard was that you write for the sake of hitting certain minimums.

In elementary school and high school, we were told the essays had to be at least five paragraphs. You shouldn’t have an essay shorter than five paragraphs.

In college, they took that even further. They didn’t just want an essay about something, they wanted papers about something, which followed the same structure but added a lot more. Few papers were ever shorter than 5 pages. And it didn’t necessarily increase how much content there was. It didn’t really necessarily increase the strength of the message.

The Core Truth

It’s taken me years of working, trying to create for people, thinking original ideas, and investing in my creative craft to realize this core truth: more words is not more content. It’s not what people are looking for.

We live in a world where there are so many things competing for our time, and we want to spend that time well. We want to be rewarded for the time we spend. We want the ability to spend a very small amount of time and find something that’s novel, life-changing, compelling and hugely profitable, with as little effort as possible.

This marks a shift in how I will be blogging and sharing my thoughts from now on. I’m not necessarily going to write very long posts. Some ideas will just be things that I want to share, and I’ll communicate them with as little verbiage as possible.

Relatability and Voice

Also, I want to make it more relatable. I know another thing that I’ve learned is that technical content, for it to be relevant, it’s got to be applicable in the technical domain for a creator. But for people to like it and engage with it and bracket, they ask, “Is it relatable?”

They want the voice of a person and not a machine. They don’t just care about the ideas. They care about:

Where did it come from?
How did it come about?
Can I relate to the story that birthed this idea?

I think that’s another element of a good idea. A good idea is something that you can relate to, that you get it in a way that you understand where it came from, and how it relates to you or how it doesn’t relate to you, very easily or quickly.

The New Paradigm

That’s my thought, the new paradigm. I’m just gonna share what’s on my mind, and I’m gonna worry less about editing and detail and polishing and structuring, and just share with you guys what I’m thinking.

I think there’s some very cool ideas as we’re on the forefront of major technological and sociological changes. I’m thinking a lot, every single day, about these things and I’d love for all of you to join me in the journey of leveling up and creating alongside.

Thank you!

More Words != More Content