Copywriting and the Art of Simplicity

Why do many people prefer complicated explanations to simple ones? Seeing complexity in things that are really quite straightforward. Why do some things appear to be more complicated than necessary?

Maybe it’s an ego thing. Wanting to big yourself up. Demonstrating that you can navigate complex situations and come out on top.

Maybe it’s because complexity can be attractive to people. If things are too simple, boredom rapidly sets in. Complexity holds our attention and stimulates our enjoyment of something. It forces us to think about an issue. Confront a challenge. And engage our mind.

Maybe there’s an evolutionary advantage attached to sidestepping something difficult by viewing it through the prism of complexity. Bah! Too difficult. Let’s move on.

Maybe it’s because people don’t always attach financial value to something that looks simple. Creating a veneer of complexity about a product or a process makes it easier to charge more for it.

And maybe it’s because opaque, convoluted grammar, syntax and vocabulary can support an elitist perspective on a topic. Which is then deliberately deployed to create a barrier between the writer and their audience. 

Who knows?

Understanding complexity, resisting disorder

I’m not suggesting for a second that unravelling the secrets of DNA, understanding the risks attached to credit derivatives or wrestling with quantum mechanics is easy.

We should recognise that complexity is an essential characteristic of many systems or processes. Some things in nature, science and technology are inherently complex.

On top of which, complexity is growing in the modern world as technological and economic developments multiply the interactions between people, organisations and societies around the globe.

The resulting hyper-connected ‘system of systems’ generates a situation where change in one element can potentially affect virtually any other element. Often with profoundly unpredictable consequences.

This is where entropy can rear its head. The move from order to disorder that is one of the immutable laws of the universe. The chaos generated by the disintegrating systems that govern our lives.

As Murphy's Law puts it: ‘Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.’

Think about how our personal lives seem to get more, not less, complicated as time goes by. We like to think that we’re in charge. But, in reality, much of the time we’re subject to forces we can’t control. Moving, apparently irreversibly, towards an uncertain, disordered future.

On a broader scale, consider the causes and consequences of the financial crash of 2008. The tipping points being reached in our climate and ecosystems as global heating and environmental degradation threaten to spiral out of control.

And the virtual certainty of further zoonotic diseases like the coronavirus, with all their disastrous consequences, as human pressure on nature grows, unless we take decisive action to limit our infringement on once-wild environments.  

Pushing back the chaos

But the important thing to remember is that we can counteract entropy by fighting back. By carving out forms of order that are resilient enough to withstand its destructive impact.

This is the story of human civilisation. Of what gives our lives purpose.

It’s not easy. The laws of probability suggest the odds are stacked against us. But solve life’s problems, we do. And striving for simplicity can be a good way to go about it.

As sculptor Constantin Brâncuși said, ‘simplicity is complexity resolved’.

This means understanding the essence of a thing. Simplifying it without undermining its core meaning.

Making it comprehensible without destroying its spirit or its beauty.

And doing this in a way that promotes clarity without talking down to people.

What has this got to do with copywriting?

The brave readers who’ve stayed the pace may be wondering what on earth this has got to with copy or content writing.

The problem is that a lot of writing appears to obscure meaning rather than clarify it. Overlong sentences. Flowery prose. Deliberately complicated syntax. Use of the passive tense. Excessive use of adverbs. You know the drill…

Jargon is a classic example of how what you might call ‘complexity bias’ can affect our use of language. Believing that the use of big words and obscure terminology will lend you an aura of authority. And bamboozle people in the process.  

There’s a place for jargon in fields that require specialised terminology. Outside those areas, it becomes a barrier to communication.

Every word matters

Good writing can steer the reader through the minefield represented by a difficult subject. It can bring a topic to life.    

It’s all about being understood. The writer’s job is not to over-complicate or embellish a message. But to find the most effective way of connecting with the target audience.

That doesn’t mean squeezing out creativity. On the contrary. But it does mean writing clearly, fluently and persuasively.

And you’ll know that you’ve got it right when there’s nothing more to add and nothing more to take away.

As jazz musician Charles Mingus said, “Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity.”

Drop me a line if you need a professional content writer to help simplify your content.

Photo by Vanja Matijevic on Unsplash