Write what's not there

"Don't play what's there, play what's not there." - Miles Davis

The other day, I was watching a documentary called Helvetica. It's a great watch for any typography nuts out there.

At one point, they're interviewing typography designers and someone says that when you're designing a letter, it's not about what you put in. It's not about the shape of the letter at all, but rather the shape of the white space around it. It's the emptiness that gives the letter its beauty, its grace, its structure. Anyone can draw a letter; it takes greatness to draw what's not there.

This is when the Miles Davis quote above came roaring back with sudden clarity. Anyone can make noise, and with practice anyone can hit notes and strum chords and even keep a beat. Great musicians though play what isn't there. The emptiness around your notes, the stuff you're not doing, is what transforms noise into music. This is why amateur musicians are obsessed with learning grand solos and rock anthems, where as the greats keep it simple. It's not what you put in, it's what you leave out.

The same holds true in writing.

Imagine if those Volkswagen ads had read, "Our cars are small, ugly, but well made and well priced." It's straight forward enough, arguably gets the point across, but it's nowhere near as good as "Think Small." It's the words that aren't there that make the line so powerful.

What we don't say, the words and syllables left out, are more important than the ones we put in. Carefully choosing what not to say brings clarity, meaning, and power to the words we keep.