The Power of Numbers

I love writing, and almost as much as I love writing I love reading about writing. This morning, as I was easing into my day, I decided to dip into one of my favourite books on writing and rediscovered something I’d forgotten – a short section entitled “Choose the number of elements with a purpose in mind”. Roy Peter Clark claims that the number of elements we choose sends a subliminal message. 

Here’s a quick summary:

One:    “That girl is smart.” The reader focuses on that particular quality and no other. Clark suggests writers should use one for ‘power’.

Two:   “That girl is smart and sweet.” The reader now has to balance two characteristics. Use two when you want the reader to contrast and compare.

Three: “That girl is smart, sweet, and determined.” Three sends a message of wholeness, completeness. 

Four:   “That girl is smart, sweet, determined, and neurotic.” Four or more is when we want to “list, inventory, compile, and expand”. Four or more creates a flow, a ‘literary effect’.

So next time you’re writing, try making a deliberate choice about how many elements you include, rather than just letting the words run rampant on the page. Make a conscious decision about number. Play with it. Try different alternatives and discover the effects for yourself so that your reader can discover them later.

To illustrate his point, Clark includes some fantastic examples in his book; I encourage you to take a look. My favourite is the example he gives from Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem:

Context is everything. Dress me up and see. I’m a carnival barker, an auctioneer, a downtown performance artist, a speaker in tongues, a senator drunk on filibuster. I’ve got Tourette’s.