The late Raymond Carver, a master of literary minimalism, has choice words for those of us who try too hard.
By 
If you write for an audience — be it millions of strangers or your mom — you inevitably think about how your words appear to others. Very often, this self-consciousness results in overstuffed prose and too-clever storytelling. Here to remind us of the virtue of simplicity in writing is Raymond Carver, a master of narrative and linguistic economy:
“I hate tricks. At the first sign of a trick or gimmick in a piece of fiction, a cheap trick or even an elaborate trick, I tend to look for cover. Tricks are ultimately boring, and I get bored easily, which may go along with my not having much of an attention span. But extremely clever chi-chi writing, or just plain tomfoolery writing, puts me to sleep. Writers don’t need tricks or gimmicks or even necessarily need to be the smartest fellows on the block. At the risk of appearing foolish, a writer sometimes needs to be able to just stand and gape at this or that thing — a sunset or an old shoe — in absolute and simple amazement.”
Raymond Carver, Fires: Essays, Poems, Stories
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Great post and comments! Admittedly as a writer, I have the tendency to hide behind metaphors and cliches instead of just being open with what I mean. I’m just learning more about how to be myself in my writing.
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For women and their beauty it’s all about tricks when it comes to applying makeup and keeping up with our looks. We just don’t want you guys to know 😉
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Yes! I agree SO much! Writing needs to be simpler. Sometimes tricks are fun, but I’d much rather see an adjective-filled description than some flurry of words I don’t entirely understand.
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Ahhhh…just what I needed. I belong to an online writers critique forum. I am not a big advocate of crits although I do believe they can be used as a learning tool. But too many opinions. You tell too much. Not enough showing. You use too many adverbs. This is passive. No hook. Info dumps. Page turners. Purple prose. I said once, we are evolving to a story of two people in a white room. No door. No windows. No furniture. Nothing. The people are standing in the middle. No eyes. No mouth. No dialogue. End of story. I read a wonderful chapter today. One of my co-scribes massacred it! Leave it alone already!
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Love this!
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I am in total agreement. I have one author who is totally unique, however, she has gotten down because someone she looks up to, ‘critiqued’ her style of writing. No gimmicks and or tricks sounds good to me.
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I have a blog (http://pressedupinabook) and write for a lifestyle & tech site. Timing couldn’t be anymore perfect. Wise words!
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I don’t know Raymond Carver, but I want to know him and his works. He said that “Writers do not need tricks or gimmicks.” – I guess, in some point yes- because you need not to be too wordy with your thoughts especially if you could do it convey it minimalistically. However, a good story for me is something where I envision myself in the creative and playful world of the writer. It’s when the story brings to me to its own realm by means of the words used and I don’t care if its flowery or too extravagant. What is important is that I enjoy and I understand what the writer has to say. ❤
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I don’t know that I agree entirely with the author’s sentiment. I like a twist or clever hook in a story. Yes, I like a well-written story, but I have to say, a plot twist I didn’t see coming gets me every time.
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This is very true!
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yeah, very true. some writers would just tend to get your attention with unnecessary gimmicks.
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Well, my motto is: “Write something you want to read, then read everything that you have written!” 😀
I mean, if you don’t even like your work, who else is going to?
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I don’t believe clever or in my case, genius tricks get in the way of natural story telling. I myself brainstorm tricks so that I know I have some great ones up my sleeve when I need it and when I get to writing, I can just let it run naturally let them all live out.
It’s only when I get to a point where I think I need something there, maybe a clever obstacle for my characters when I open my notebook of tricks and think “this one seems good” then continue writing as I was. Sometimes I can naturally improvise tricks as I write which is great too.
I actually write tricks from being inspired by other writers who came up with some nice tricks. I believe tricks are a kind of quality and in some genres, you actually do need tricks. How about mystery? How do you expect to write that genre well otherwise?
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Succinct and wonderfully put.
http://achronicleofkarma.wordpress.com/
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A wonderful point far more eloquently put than I ever could. As a Speechwriter I find this to be even more important. When you want people to keep paying attention to you it’s so important to use language they can instantly connect to.
Thanks for this excellent quote
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Raymond Carver, extremely clever as always.
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That’s why I don’t write for an audience.
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buh… but don’t you need tricks if your writing mystery?
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Yay! Someone finally mentioned it! I agree, tricks are sometimes also important in adventure but in mystery it’s a must.
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in other words..just be yourself…what comes from the heart will touch the hearts, the minds n the bodies…
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so true….sometimes keeping it simple is the best option !
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This is totally excellent. One reads so much tricksy stuff these days: one certainly doesn’t want to be reading it in blog posts.
Was it Carver who invented KISS, I wonder ? [grin]
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Simple writing is not always easy to achieve. Sometimes there’s a lot of work involved .As Hemingway is reputed to have said “The first draft of anything is shit”
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Wow, this is such an interesting discussion. For me no tricks and no gimmicks don’t necessarily mean simplicity or truth. I’m also not so sure that Carver’s writing isn’t tricky. It’s very good in my opinion, and strong but isn’t it gimmicky and tricky as well? His choice to write extreme situations in a very simple, detached and even cold way is a manipulation. And it works, at least on me. So what I take from this great quote is to be true to what I want to do in my writing. To be less careful, or maybe not to be careful at all; to think less about pleasing my reader and to check where the tricks and gimmicks I use are coming from. Are they methods of hiding something I’m afraid to show? Techniques meant to make my text easier to read? Someone else’s voice I am using because of not finding mine? Or are they a clear bold and focused choice?
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This is so true. Simplicity is best and it always comes across as much more sincere. It is a kind of vanity that makes writers get unnecessarily flowery to the annoyance and often alienation of the reader.
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a surge of emotions. like so much so I couldn’t even hold onto one to write about it.
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It’s very easy to picture your audience reading what you’re writing, and sometime it takes bravery to write what you write, and publish and be damned.
Me? I write about cycling. Pretty safe territory that. 😉
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This was great, much needed advice! Thank you!
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Energy, create a flow of energy in your mind, just link random words till they create a flowing feeling
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I totally agree. Simple and authentic is compelling.
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