Say Less + Repost: Emily Edwards “Blackout Poetry”
TL;DR: say less
I have resting contemplative face. It’s like the misogynistic term resting b!@#$ face, except people ask why I’m sad when I’m really just deep in thought.
I’m long-winded. I think in layers upon layers. And this is a problem because people want to be stimulated, not submerged. People want 280 characters or less. I am not 280 characters or less.
I am working on being less and writing less. It takes time. In the words of an anonymous Twain, Wilde, Einstein, Churchill type, "I would have written a shorter letter, but did not have the time."
Why less? You shouldn’t give away info people would pay for. You shouldn’t give answers to questions people haven’t yet asked. You should say less—my overused Gen Z phrase—and ask more. But I don’t like greed or ambiguity.
When I write excess, it’s not to show off my typing speed. It’s to make sure every point is covered. At work, it’s for AI to read the details it can not see. In conversation, I imagine every possible misunderstanding and try to plug the gaps. Writing like that leaves no room for discovery. It assumes the reader won’t meet you halfway, and, to be fair, AI won’t. Editing is my compromise.
Ultimately, I appreciate my extra words, even if others don’t.
For today’s repost, I’m sharing a space that shows the value of restraint. fouuund.it is a site run by a brilliant writer, Emily Edwards, whose work captures deep emotion with precise minimalism. Each piece is strong enough to survive erasure. Below I’ll share examples of her work from Booooooom (seven o’s), but it doesn’t do it justice.
Visit her site, where you can black out any words you want. What remains often feels deliberate, like fridge magnets you say “Oh, there’s no order to it!” But deep down everyone knows there is.
Sometimes when editing down, the meaning holds. Sometimes it shifts. Sometimes it disappears entirely. It proves that saying less doesn’t always mean saying less—it can mean saying it better. It can also strip meaning away. Only your reader’s reaction can tell.
Image examples are from Booooooom. Check out fouuund.it to try it yourself!
