Conviction Without Ornament

Baldwin’s Precision

James Baldwin wrote with a kind of surgical precision. His sentences are often stripped of softness, refusing to apologize for their clarity or their weight. Today, I have been studying his essays, noticing how he uses verbs like blades.

We often use “softening” words—adverbs like ‘really’ or ‘mostly,’ or phrases like ‘I think’—because we are afraid of the intensity of our own convictions. We ornament our prose to hide our vulnerability. But Baldwin understood that true power arrives stripped of ornament.

Precision is an act of courage. It means saying exactly what you mean, without the safety net of ambiguity. When you remove the softening words, what remains is the truth. Remove one softening word from your writing today. Replace it with a precise verb. Watch how the sentence suddenly stands taller.

The Monroe Minute Remove one softening word. Replace it with a precise verb.

Until the next page,
Sloane S. Monroe

Sloane Shay Monroe

I don’t write to idealize love, but to explore it honestly, with emotional precision and depth.