Friday, May 21, 2021
Remember the cinnamon challenge?
Providing further evidence (as if we needed it) that people enjoy doing and watching stupid things on the Internet, the idea was to swallow a whole tablespoon of cinnamon without water.
(Don’t try it, it can cause permanent lung damage.)
But the cinnamon challenge isn’t just a bad life choice. It’s also an interesting metaphor for what can go wrong with your writing.
As we talked about last week, most writing for the web is dull and formulaic, often because it’s written by horribly underpaid freelancers who just need to get the damned thing out the door.
Too much of a good thing
Mae West reportedly said that “Too much of a good thing can be wonderful.”
But sometimes, too much is actually … too much.
We all want to write work that’s vivid and lively. But it’s also possible to pile on so many “colorful” techniques that we end up with a pile of unicorn puke.
My colleague Stefanie Flaxman and I used to talk about this a lot, which led me to write this post:
How to Add Color and Richness to Your Writing … without Making Us Want to Barf
As I wrote in the post,
“Even if you like sparkle (I do), you just need a little. Too much glitter always looks cheap.”
The Principle of Cinnamon
That leads me to a phrase that I also associate with Stefanie, although that might be because of her vegan cinnamon rolls post.
The Principle of Cinnamon is to use colorful writing techniques the way you do cinnamon, or any other aromatic spice.
A pinch will add a delightful perfume to the dish.
A whole tablespoon will choke you, or worse.
The Principle of Cinnamon comes in handy any time you’re using an element that makes your writing more vivid.
For example:
- One strong idea is wonderful. Four strong ideas, in a single post, will just confuse and disorient your reader.
- One analogy will make your content memorable. Eight analogies will break readers’ brains trying to follow your argument.
- One exclamation point is jaunty. Eight is punctuation abuse.
You get the idea.
Content is a long game, and you have lots of time to get all of your ideas and insights into the world. Just don’t try to do them all in a single blog post.
But … don’t be afraid of flavor
The flip side to the Principle of Cinnamon is an anxiety to use any informal language, colorful writing, or enthusiasm in your writing, lest it be considered Too Much.
If you write for clients, they may worry about this — and strip all the life out of your content in the process.
For this, I leave you with a quote from longtime Vogue editor Diana Vreeland (courtesy of our Creative Fierce member, Cynthia G.)
“A little bad taste is like a nice splash of paprika.”
Flavor, spice, and even a splash of bad taste can be just what you need to get your audience’s attention and keep it.
Some audiences like their content subtle, and some prefer Nashville Hot. Keep the lines of communication open, and always try to do more of what works for the folks who watch, read, and listen to you.
Until we meet again, Stay Fierce
Sonia