Writing is more than stringing sentences together; it is boiling down thoughts on the relentless whiteness of the page, even though there is a tension between the limitation of language and the freedom of our thoughts.
And in much of your talking, thinking is half murdered.
For thought is a bird of space, that in a cage of words may indeed unfold its wings but cannot fly.
Khalil Gibran – The Prophet
Acknowledging this constraint, repetition in writing is a response to language’s limitations, an effort to ensure that what is crucial survives the journey from mind to page. Yet, repetition is double-edged. We all have come across narratives that were essentially fluff, content stretched out to fill pages and hit a word count target.
Writing carries an enormous responsibility. It is about respect for the reader’s time and attention. Therefore, every word must earn its place. Good editing lies in balancing repetition with progression, focusing less on cutting and more on sharpening the message. Claire Keegan, a prominent Irish writer known for her economical prose, puts it succinctly:
“Elegance is saying just enough. And I do believe that the reader completes the story.”
Claire Keegan, in a The Guardian interview
The thoughts and ideas held in the writer’s mind are overshadowed by the varied interpretations of each reader. The same text has the potential to be understood differently from person to person, as each reader creates their own narrative uniquely shaped by their life and perspective.
While working on these words, I’m granted a rare privilege — a window into the reader’s world. Our minds, even if just for a moment, meet in a quiet conversation. And as we reach the end of this article, we understand that writing is as much an act of thinking as of reading, where thoughts are crafted into words that might linger after the screen is turned off.