Occam’s RazR

Single-Minded

by Ike

Wit is the ability to be clever. Wisdom is knowing when clever will get you beaten up.

I know many people who are clever. Some are clever when they shouldn’t be. Many times that person is me.

I’m a fan of layers in communication — being able to reach more than one audience within a single message. If a particular analogy communicates at a basic level, yet alludes to something on a higher plane, that’s effective writing. Some people learn by peeling the onion.

I first started toying with these concepts while still in television news. The size of the canvas is measured in time, and it’s hard to paint pretty pictures on a postage stamp. Every second counts, and counts against you. If you can marry the words and the pictures just so, you can squeeze more meaning than in the words or the pictures alone.

Simple

We celebrate the clever, and we appreciate the genius behind it. Comedians often get away with remarks about hecklers or others in the audience by sheer virtue of wit. Comedy writers squeeze naughty content through a device known as the double-entendre. Yes, they can be very funny. Yes, they are very clever. But it’s time we celebrate the single-entendre.

Writing in single-entendres:

eliminates potential ambiguity
puts the focus on your point
puts your ego in the backseat
respects the reader’s time

If you find yourself patting your own back about something clever you wrote, ask:

for whom am I writing?
how many will really get that?
how many will enjoy it?
how many might be confused? (or even offended)

Layers have their place, but let’s not forget where the onion gets its name: the same Latin root as the word union. Meaning one. Whole.

Single, naked thoughts are liberating.

Technorati Tags: Ike Pigott, Occam’s RazR, language, writing, communication

"Single-Minded" was published on February 29th, 2008 and is listed in Broadcasting, Language, Philosophy, Wordplay.

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Single-Minded: 7 Comments

Mike Driehorst wrote,

So, communicating and ogres have that in common?

While focus is good in writing, there is a craft (and fun) in trying to communicate a particular message within limits — time and/or space.
-Mike

Link | February 29th, 2008 at 8:54 am
GeekMommy wrote,

Okay, while I think you’re very on target with the piece, that first picture is too distracting… one peels LAYERS of the onion, not slices… argh - that picture is irksome!

Seriously tho, some good points to ponder.

Link | February 29th, 2008 at 11:17 pm
Super Zoe wrote,

I agree with GeekMommy to a degree (or a layer) about peeling a sliced onion, but sometimes that is the real challenge in communicating - peeling away the layers of something that has already been diced, chopped, or sliced.

I would equate the single entendre to…a cucumber.

Link | March 1st, 2008 at 12:01 am
Blog post by Ike Pigott, Occams Razr | thepio.net wrote,

[...] Single-Minded [...]

Link | March 1st, 2008 at 2:57 pm
cooper wrote,

Interesting piece. So, trying to give one’s writing a certain je ne sais quoi isn’t always the right thing to do

Link | March 1st, 2008 at 10:25 pm
Ike wrote,

@cooper — well said.

If there is indeed a fire in a crowded theater, one shouldn’t start with “What a shame that you can buy Skittles and Twizzlers in the lobby, but no marshmallows, because as it turns out…”

…and thanks for hanging out at the RazR!

Link | March 2nd, 2008 at 9:04 pm
Adam Daniel Mezei wrote,

Ike, I’m also likely the one who is constantly getting my “ass kicked” over at my blog, for instance, because I’m way too tongue in cheek and always smart by half.

But no one ever said being an addict was easy.

Link | March 3rd, 2008 at 3:25 am