A while back, I wrote an article on the importance of subtlety in literature and media. I stand by everything I say, I decided to go back on that topic and talk about examples where subtly should not be used.
A few days ago, I met an old friend of mine named Frederick, a retired economics professor here at Northwestern and a good friend of mine, who told me he read my article and thinks I should go back to this subject and mention times where one would need to be blunt to get their point across. Well Frederick, here’s your requested article.
In the real world, subtlety isn’t used as often as it is in fiction. Take your job, for example. If your boss wants you to do a certain thing, they tell you exactly what needs to be done and how. Same logic applies when the roles are reversed; if you want your employee to, let’s say, put up the flyers, you wouldn’t say it in a subtle way.
That wouldn’t make sense, right? You would instead tell them what to do in a clear manner so they won’t mess up. All being subtle would do in that situation is make the job harder to do because the person working under you isn’t quite sure what to do and knows things you’re a tosser who thinks they’re smart because they know a couple big words.
The same logic applies to media and literacy. If your protagonist is transported to a world that is nothing like the world we live in, it’s only sensical that you would need to be blunt at certain times when trying to explain the functions or cultures of this new world.
If you are always wordy and archaic with the way you speak, readers, players, or the audience will be lost and have no better idea on how the world you’re building works than if you had a meth head with splinters in his mouth come on stage and explain it. So, while I still believe subtlety is very important when writing a good story, I also agree that there can be time when using it would actually downgrade what it is you’re trying to say. Thanks again to Frederick for giving me an idea on what to write about this week.
Remember, if you have a movie, video game, or book you would like me to review, or just have a certain topic you would like for me to talk about, you can always send your request to me in person or at kevinkaumans@gmail.com.