I’ve been revising a personal story recently and every time I get close to a simple honest sentence, I suddenly start making the prose more complicated. Almost like I’m trying to blur the emotion before anyone sees it too clearly. “Emotional precision matters more than verbal decoration” is a sentence I’m probably going to think about for a long time. I recognized myself in this newsletter Idris Elijah, thank you for sharing it!
I’ve started noticing that the moments in songs, movies or writing that stay with me the longest are almost never the loud emotional speeches. It’s the hesitation. The silence. The thing someone almost says. Reading this made me realize I probably overexplain sometimes because I’m afraid people won’t understand what I’m trying to express. But the examples here prove people feel things more deeply when they’re allowed to meet the emotion halfway. Thank you Idris, this one really got to me!
This explains why certain records hit me harder than technically perfect songs. A couple nights ago I was replaying an old demo and realized the moment that affected me most was actually a shaky breath before the second verse that I almost edited out. Same with lyrics. The lines that land hardest are usually the ones saying the least. A repeated phrase, an unfinished thought, a pause before the vocal comes back in. That space lets people project their own life into the song. Great insights and an enjoyable read today Idris Elijah!
This reminded me of a painting I worked on recently where I kept adding more to the canvas because I thought it needed more emotion. In the end, the version that worked best was the one where I removed half the details and left more negative space around the subject. Suddenly the expression felt lonely without me forcing it. That section about restraint requiring precision felt very true creatively. Another informative and valuable read Idris Elijah!
The part about people not saying what they really feel immediately made me think about my daughter lately. She’s at that age where if something’s bothering her, she’ll suddenly start talking about homework or ask a completely random question instead of saying what’s actually wrong. Reading this made me realize how much emotion lives underneath ordinary conversations. Probably why quiet moments in stories end up feeling the most real. I enjoyed and got a lot of out this fascinating read Idris Elijah!
I’ve been revising a personal story recently and every time I get close to a simple honest sentence, I suddenly start making the prose more complicated. Almost like I’m trying to blur the emotion before anyone sees it too clearly. “Emotional precision matters more than verbal decoration” is a sentence I’m probably going to think about for a long time. I recognized myself in this newsletter Idris Elijah, thank you for sharing it!
I’ve started noticing that the moments in songs, movies or writing that stay with me the longest are almost never the loud emotional speeches. It’s the hesitation. The silence. The thing someone almost says. Reading this made me realize I probably overexplain sometimes because I’m afraid people won’t understand what I’m trying to express. But the examples here prove people feel things more deeply when they’re allowed to meet the emotion halfway. Thank you Idris, this one really got to me!
This explains why certain records hit me harder than technically perfect songs. A couple nights ago I was replaying an old demo and realized the moment that affected me most was actually a shaky breath before the second verse that I almost edited out. Same with lyrics. The lines that land hardest are usually the ones saying the least. A repeated phrase, an unfinished thought, a pause before the vocal comes back in. That space lets people project their own life into the song. Great insights and an enjoyable read today Idris Elijah!
This reminded me of a painting I worked on recently where I kept adding more to the canvas because I thought it needed more emotion. In the end, the version that worked best was the one where I removed half the details and left more negative space around the subject. Suddenly the expression felt lonely without me forcing it. That section about restraint requiring precision felt very true creatively. Another informative and valuable read Idris Elijah!
The part about people not saying what they really feel immediately made me think about my daughter lately. She’s at that age where if something’s bothering her, she’ll suddenly start talking about homework or ask a completely random question instead of saying what’s actually wrong. Reading this made me realize how much emotion lives underneath ordinary conversations. Probably why quiet moments in stories end up feeling the most real. I enjoyed and got a lot of out this fascinating read Idris Elijah!