This morning's sermon by Spurgeon was titled "The Unrivaled Eloquence of Jesus."
Here Spurgeon discusses "the peculiar qualities of [Jesus'] speech." Says Spurgeon:
Those who are most excellent as preachers are those who are most like him.
Jesus' style is, among other things, "singularly clear." Jesus speaks "in short sentences and with plain words."'
The hackneyed properties of theatrical oration are not for him.
For this quality [of simplicity], our Savior remains unrivaled.
I couldn't agree more. Simple writing is effective writing.
Simplicity is a difficult skill. The problem is that everyone has their own idea of simplicity. I've been criticized for writing books like I speak. Hey, it's just me being real, as if I were actually talking to you in person. My philosophy in my textbooks is: write less and say more. There is no place for clutter in writing. As someone has said, writing is best done to express, not impress.
It's a writer's duty to give their readers something simple (but not simplistic) to digest. This is a craft I have yet to master. Clear writing is no accident. You just have to keep trying to improve.