Ruin your writing to improve your communication.

The power of an architectural ruin is undeniable. Ruins are romantic. They’re a bit mysterious. They’re a connection to a shared past that resonates across time and communicates across cultures. Ruins don’t usually reveal the events that destroyed a building, but they do reveal how it was built. There’s a clarity and beauty in that expression.

So let’s ruin our writing. Let’s give it that same power. And maybe some of the mystery and romance too - but never at the cost of clarity or intention.

This form of ruination is something I’ve had to re-learn a couple of times as I transitioned from a career in architecture to freelance writing to academia then back to freelancing then to consulting.

Somewhere between starting grad school and finishing my first book, writing became a precious and high-stakes activity. I wasn’t just writing, I was over-writing. And my work could get overwrought. I still managed to produce some good writing that I’m quite proud of, but I often found myself telling big, complex stories using big, complex, sentences.

There’s rarely a need for that.

So every now and then, I take out one of those old pieces and channel the ravages of time and nature into a red pen. What remains is strong, clear, and memorable.

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