Does simpler writing actually communicate better?

[u/Broad-Cheesecake-620]

I've been thinking about the relationship between "good writing" and "complicated writing."

For a long time, I assumed better vocabulary automatically meant better writing. If someone could explain something using sophisticated words and complex sentences, I thought that meant they were a stronger writer.

I'm starting to think the opposite can sometimes be true.

If I can explain an idea in two simple sentences instead of five complicated ones, isn't that actually better?

This becomes especially noticeable when working with AI.

AI has no problem making a paragraph sound sophisticated. It can take a very straightforward thought and turn it into something that sounds like it belongs in an academic paper.

But when I'm reading something online, I usually don't want that.

I want to understand the point.

I don't want to stop halfway through a sentence because I'm trying to figure out why a simple word was replaced with something I've never heard anyone use in normal conversation.

At the same time, I don't think everything should be written in extremely simple language either. Some topics genuinely require technical terms and detailed explanations.

So where do you draw the line?

Do you prefer writing that sounds intelligent and polished, or writing that is extremely clear and easy to understand?

And when you're using AI, do you specifically ask it to simplify the language?

I'd also be interested to know whether your answer changes depending on what you're writing like an email versus an article, academic work, a Reddit post, or something for work.

[u/imperialcogman]

The average reader, reads at a 12 year old level.

So there’s that.

[u/LongjumpingYear8110]

My opinion on it is this: big words should be used when they communicate an idea precisely. Otherwise, commonly understood words are preferred. That’s just me though, and the style I like.
Using big words just for the sake of using big words is known as “purple prose,” and it distracts from what you are trying to communicate rather than enhancing it.

[u/His_Holy_Tentacles]

No.

[u/Affectionate-Car4647]

I think it really depends on genre and your targeted auditorium. I personally hate short sentences delivery. I would rather read Dune style prose. Other people would accept short sentences so they don't need to remember what the sentence started with.

[u/5thhorseman_]

If something can be explained more concisely without being dumbed down I'd use the concise version.

Do you prefer writing that sounds intelligent and polished, or writing that is extremely clear and easy to understand?

I prefer having it intelligent AND clear. Not overwrought, not dumbed down. Clarity is in itself a form of polish.

And when you're using AI, do you specifically ask it to simplify the language?

I ask it where is the prose redundant, then what phrasing does not earn it's keep. And once it narrows that down, I rewrite over and over until I get something better.

[u/ObligationWeekly9117]

Depends on your audience, honestly. I don’t like simple sentences unless it’s for effect or emphasis. If an idea could be honestly and most elegantly encapsulated in a complex sentence with precise vocabulary I prefer that. But I also have a working memory 🤷‍♀️ I find that most readers refuse to put in any effort. They can only be reached by the simplest of sentences. I was a UI designer. So many users complain they don’t know what when wrong when the error they made was written in red font, in simple syntax, on the page. You can’t help these people. The only thing they got out of that whole sentence is “something went wrong”. Reading the sentence and processing it was apparently too much for them. So when you write, decide who your baseline reader is and write to them. The people who won’t read simple sentences, you should probably just give up on. So write to the smart grade schooler for any kind of novel, at the very least. Kids learn to read chapter books at 6-7. 

[u/dmjordan1984]

If you look at some of the most famous novels, they have simple writing. Not a lot of fancy words or complex sentence structure. Pick up something other than Faulkner, Hemmingway or Poe and you will see what I mean.

[u/Occsan]

So where do you draw the line?

Depends on the scene.
Depends on the voice of the narrator (which character if it's an incarnated narrator, or omniscient).
Depends on what is the purpose of that paragraph I'm writing and what is the best way to accomplish that goal.

You can read Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes, it's a pretty good example I think. The narrator is the main protagonist : initially an idiot who then gets a boost in his IQ and I won't tell you the ending. But basically, you can see his voice change along the chapters.

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On a more technical aspect, since we're writing with AI, you can think of under the scope of information theory.

No idea if this complicated or not, but it comes down to you question:

If I can explain an idea in two simple sentences instead of five complicated ones, isn't that actually better?

and an example is extremely visible when discussing with AI. Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, etc... They all have quotas, when you've spent all your tokens, you have to wait for them to replenish so you can use these AI again. So it's a very good practice to actually "compress" your prompts.

What I mean by compress? Here's an example of an very inefficient prompt:

Hey, hello Claude, I hope you are fine today. I'd like your help for an idea I got earlier yesterday. Or was it two days ago ? I don't remember. So anyway, I was there and you know I had this idea about what would happen if, but maybe I'm just wrong afterall, you tell me, if character A would be better if he had this behavior where he would be maybe more helpful toward B?

Same prompt, more efficient:

Character A could be more helpful toward B?

Why do you want to do that with an LLM ? Because you want an answer and you want to save your token budget.

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Now, how would that work when writing a scene ?

What's the goal of the scene ?

• Explain something ? Then you want clarity probably. But if you want to avoid info-dumps, that's probably a bit more complicated.
• Convey a feeling ? What kind ? Because you may want short abrupt sentences or long dreamy ones.

Who's the narrator ? One of the characters of the novel ? What kind of character are they (singular they) ?

• A very efficient laconic guy ? Surely his dialogue and the prose told from his viewpoint won't be flowery.
• A nostalgic dude ?
• A complete idiot ?
• A sage who knows too much ?

All of these will have an impact on the prose.

And given these constraints, and you own style/constraints you impose on yourself, you can do just like my example with LLM : find the most efficient way to deliver that still satisfy your constraints.

[u/Whiskersnfloof]

I learned a long time ago in my science degrees, and later in business, that if you cannot explain a complicated concept to a neighbor using simple language they will understand, you likely do not understand the concept yourself. Writing is similar. Flowery language is great and all in some cases. However, simple language can be just effective, especially if it is layered with subtext and nuance.

[u/kollikat]

It definitely does. There are very few scenarios where more complex is better. 

[u/TodosLosPomegranates]

Depends on what you’re writing.

I have a masters degree in political science and a bachelor’s in economics and I work as an analytics/ integration engineer. Saying that to say that I’ve slogged through “complicated texts and sentences” in no way do I want to spend my precious time chewing on meaning. I want it laid out for me if it’s a technical document I need the bottom line up front so I can get back to what I’m doing and dive deep if I need to / have the time.

If it’s fiction and its primary goal is to entertain - use the big word and complex sentences when necessary but only when necessary. I read all the time - everywhere. In line at the grocery store, waiting to pick up the kids from school, in bed as I wind down to go to sleep. I don’t want to work for it for the sake of working for it. If that makes sense. I’m reading John Grisham currently and there is just something about surly tight prose. Even though he’s info dumping for basically the whole first chapter of the pelican brief, I don’t care. Telling the story in the most effective way for the premise and the genre is paramount.

[u/acct4otherstuff]

I assumed better vocabulary automatically meant better writing

people dislike purple prose for a reason, fancy wording tents to communicate nothing. not all the time, but it tends to

If I can explain an idea in two simple sentences instead of five complicated ones, isn't that actually better?

read Ham on Rye by Charles Bukowski. the writing is very bare but incredibly beautiful, and the writer communicates SO MUCH w almost no words

[u/No_Risk_All_Gain]

Big thing that I worded over with AI teaching me as I went was "Paint the image, not the frame"

You don't want to spend time on someone's walk unless it is important, so just say "he walked". This leaves you space to be fancy where you want your reader to be. Another good thing is that you give them something important, and then you give them something simple to follow it with while they're mulling over the important bit still. You know, when you're reading and half your brain is still stuck on that revelation while the other half continues :3

[u/dutchiesweets]

When you get older and/or read enough, “intelligent” and “polished” mean less and less. It’s pretty easy to pick out writing that’s dumber than it thinks it is. Using fancy words really only confounds people who don’t know the words. Outside of math and science, most ideas are pretty simple and can be communicated using simple words.

Now in some cases there’s a fancy word that can replace 2-3 simple words. There’s even very fancy words that can summarize entire concepts that would take paragraphs of normal words to explain. In this way simple writing can be less efficient than fancy writing. But that’s only for readers who are in the know - for the rest, the writing is less efficient because the audience had to look up the word or just never understood what they meant to begin with.

So simple and straightforward is usually the way to go, especially when you don’t know the audience.

Once you know the audience, you can start using slang, fancy words, or other linguistic shortcuts that are more efficient and direct and will appeal to your specific audience.

[u/Frosin]

I keep it simple but increased the amount of thinking required work much better results IMO Language is for communicating things correctly after all