You might think that watching Dancing with the Stars has precious little to do with writing. But as well as admiring the dancing (and watching in disbelief that Cloris Leachman is still hanging on), I took away after Monday’s show a reminder that applies to writing. You could sum it up as “It’s not all about you.”
The judges pretty much across the board scolded professional dancer Lacey Schwimmer for spending too much effort showing off her own skills and not enough making her partner, Lance Bass, look good. You might think the show is mostly about the women’s scanty costumes, but the point is really to take these non-dancers, teach them a specific dance and help them look like they know what they’re doing. Bonus points if they look graceful, elegant and polished at the same time.
Here’s what applies to writing: If I spend too much effort crafting the perfect sentence, or stretching a metaphor or trying to make a catchy headline, I’m losing sight of the point. Is the reader going to understand what the article is about? Or am I spending too much effort trying to be clever and not enough trying to communicate?
And here I thought it was just a (so-called) “reality” show!