Only make something if it is both useful and needful. But if it is both useful and needful, do not hesitate to make it beautiful.
Beautiful design for everyone - pixeldiva
This quote is actually from ‘a famous Shaker Proverb’ and used in this fantastic, incredible, superb article/presentation by Ann McMeekin Carrier.
It’s essentially about user experience and accessibility in design, but so much of it applies to other creative arts. In fact, I chose to quote this quote because it really is how I think about my writing.
I write fiction in a pretty economical way. That’s not to say my writing is simple, just that I think about every single word and how it will be read. It’s such a simple ethos, but too many writers seem to write for themselves. Or to be clever.
For me, form is beauty. Get the structure of a sentence right, make every word work as hard as it possibly can, and you’ll have yourself a beautiful sentence.
