« Micro/Macro Readings | Main | Micro/Macro Readings Review by Thomas »
September 12, 2007
Micro/Macro Readings and Creative Writing
What resonates for me in Tufte's chapter is his treatment of simplicity. For years I've been advised to keep things simple, and I've worked on the basis that simplicity works in tandem with clarity. My studies in creative writing in particular have reinforced this: focus on a few concrete images, use fewer adjectives, show through actions, and say only what you need to say. I've been quite content working this way; it's provided challenges and direction alike.
Tufte's assertion that simplicity is an "aesthetic preference...not a guide to clarity" made me stop for a minute. Then I returned to the beginning of the text and read, "to clarify, add detail." In my mind I divorced clarity from simplicity and thought, what does simplicity mean, anyway? In the context of creative writing, it always comes with footnotes. An example that applies to poetry is layering: a poem should be capable of being read on multiple levels. This is comparable to micro/macro design. On a macro scale, the poem's structure is visible. It has a surface as well as contextual reading. On the micro scale, readers can come into the poem for personal readings of a stanza, image, cluster of words...
Posted by Dominique at September 12, 2007 05:04 PM