You can cut the tension with a knife! (from my Patreon page)

I don’t remember if I mentioned this before but there are some interesting dynamics occurring in my writing.  Being a fan of authors like Tad Williams, Stephen R. Donaldson, and C.J. Cherryh, I like to write very descriptively.  This is also the result of being an artist, too.  So, my sentences can become long and involved with a lot of adjectives.

On the other side, I have an associates degree in business management.  One of the earlier class in the course was business writing.   The objectives in business writing are completely at odds with my creative style.  In business writing you are trained to be concise and simple; you are told to refrain from using lesser known wording or sentence structures.  You need to make the assumption that people of varying levels of education will be reading you papers and all should be able to make sense of them.   This does not mean that you cannot challenge them but you must be very clear and concise when you do.

With these two styles at play in my writing, there is a constant tension when I sit down to type a story on my laptop.  Halfway through some sentences I have to stop and rethink them because my business side is saying “Whoa, Whoa, hold on there big fella.”  I look at the line seeing too many descriptions and too many ideas for one sentence.  Of course, business me is right.

I have come to a moderate balancing act between the two styles by allowing my creative side free rein initially.  Then when I need a break, I go back to what was written and let my business side rip it to shreds and tighten it up.  Unfortunately, the two sides don’t always play well with each other so, I wouldn’t be surprised if some of that tension spills out into the story.