Why Less Is More With Sensitive Topics

“Writing is easy,” said Mark Twain, “All you have to do is cross out the wrong words.”

When you’re writing about sensitive topics (grief, illness, trauma, fear, identity) the instinct is often to add more.

More explanation. More clarification. More protection against being misunderstood. But usually the more you say, the more you confuse. We’ve all been there… rambling, spiraling, repeating ourselves—desperate to be understood.

Saying less isn’t about being vague or withholding. It’s about removing words that are just performing until what’s left is clear and honest.

With sensitive material, every extra word comes with an emotional cost. Readers feel it. They tire faster. They pull back. Their eyes gloss over and they mentally disengage.

What they need isn’t more—it’s less. Crossing out the wrong words doesn’t make writing smaller. It makes it braver. You just need to trust that a simple sentence can hold something heavy without collapsing.