Say the Thing

Drafts die of politeness.

You know the sentence. It is the one you wrote third paragraph down, wrapped in perhaps and it could be argued, wearing two hedges and a disclaimer like a child in three winter coats. It is the only sentence in the piece that matters.

Move it to the top. Take the coats off. Say the thing.

Frankness is not rudeness — it is respect for the reader’s time and your own spine. The polite version informs; the frank version lands.

Test: read the draft aloud. The sentence you lower your voice for? That one. First line. Go.

Application of this principle: every word of le-manifeste-du-jardin-lent.