As I've grown, items seem less important. Don't get me wrong, I like to have nice things, but I no longer want A LOT of nice things. The accumulation of items I've hung onto has become a burden. There's always a reason to keep something. Maybe I'll want this shirt again later when it comes back into style. This decorative item was a gift from so and so. What if my phone breaks and I need a back up. While there is reason to keep each of these, I've become better at being more selective. I don't need fifteen sweatshirts. I don't need every gift my grandma has ever given me.
Lately, I've been trying to downsize my life. My bills. My obligations. My things. More isn't better to me. More weighs me down.
I believe that this applies to writing, too. When I first started writing, I thought more was better. More description. More characters. More words. This went against my natural tendency to be concise.
Now, I've realized that in writing fiction, extra words only clutter the prose. One solid description is more effective than a whole paragraph of bland description. A character who can serve multiple purposes in the novel is better than a bunch of characters who mostly sit in the background. Words are precious in writing and should be chosen carefully. Sometimes we have to murder our darlings, but it's worth it to have cleaner prose.
Do you tend to overwrite? Underwrite? Have a perfect balance?
