Less Is Better

Plus Ça Change – September 24, 2026

Plus Ça Change – Less Is Better

Sep 24, 2026

I meet weekly with a wonderful group of writers and we critique each other’s work. I was preparing a chapter for review, and noticed myself doing something that (I hope) turns my writing into a story you can fall into.

Per my usual, this chapter has been read, re-read, and re-re-read to polish to a fine luster. There’s still room for improvement. This is scene setting in Christophe’s point of view. I’m painting you a picture of what the world looks like to him. 

On the far side of Joseph’s woodworking shop, three old Native women shelter in advance of Sunday morning market. Marie always offers them a room, but a makeshift tarp off the building is what they want. 

On review I deleted one word.

I want the old Native women in the scene, because for real Marie provided shelter to the Choctaw women coming into New Orleans for market. So they are in her back yard, and Christophe sees that.

My job is to give you the frame, but I do not need to give you every single detail. I shouldn’t. When I wrote this, I could see these old ladies. For me, there were three of them, so I said three. 

It doesn’t need to be three. Why not give you the freedom to see it as YOU see it? If I remove the number, you fill in the details on the canvas of your imagination. It becomes your story. 

There is a balance between me providing you specific elements that are necessary to frame the image the way that I want, and the actual content of that image. Sometimes details matter, sometimes they don’t. Any specific detail I provide limits you.

They are sheltering under a tarp rather than inside walls. It tells you something about these women. I want that, so I tell that to you. But how many of them? I leave that to you. You imagine the scene, you fill it with old Native women. I’m tweaking your imagination, letting it run free, and in the end—with luck—the story is yours.

This is a tiny example, but a concept I apply throughout. Sometimes, less is better. Guess I have to go write now.