As a society, minimalism is too widely celebrated. Sure, if you want your kitchen to look like an Ikea walkway, knock yourself out Brenda. But in literature, there should be color. There should be a flare that we seem to lack as of recently. And I think there’s a way to fix that.
The ball is red. It is shiny, and it is bouncy. These are simple statements, and are probably true about some little red ball. Now, if I told you that the ball was a blindingly vibrant red. If I said the ball was airy and soared in a birdlike way, with a glistening exterior. Now that was dramatic, but you probably would prefer to play with that ball. As writers, we have standards. They are all at different places and levels, but they do exist. There are different styles and guidelines that different people use in their work, but they all culminate to a similar type of format. It’s what we do with that format that really makes us unique.
Now my solution is not easy, because we can’t just change the mind of every single person on the planet who has written anything ever. But what we can do is, if you’re reading this, switch up our mindsets a little. Put your left hand on your keyboard, and put your right hand in the air. Now repeat after me…
“I, (insert your name)
Solemnly swear
To write more vibrantly
To describe more creatively
And to use adjectives the way they were intended to be used”
Thank you for taking my pledge. The Will Pace Adjective Pledge™. Like I said, we can’t change the world of writing all at once. But just one person at a time, we can do better to speak and write in more creative ways. Using language just like it was intended to be used. And even if just one person who reads this can do their best to follow suit. It’ll cause a ripple. A beautiful, asymmetric, effective, remarkable, deliberate, astounding, comforting, awesome, peculiar, ravishing, nice ripple.
Skyline Learning Center 