The Art of Simplicity

I noticed something whilst editing my latest ms.  I'm no fan of simplicity, well not in the first draft that is.  I tend to overcomplicate things, write flowery descriptions of things that last paragraphs when really, a sentence or two will do.  This wasn't the first time I did this, in fact, I'm pretty sure I've done it with every ms I've written, so you would think by now I'd know better. 

Recently I read a the first two books of Nora Roberts' latest series - The Bride Quartet.  I'd been a while since I'd read one of her books, but pretty much from the first word I was reminded of the elements of her writing that I've always admired, the primary one being simplicity.

Now, I'm a bit biased because I think Nora Roberts is a genius, but seriously, when she writes something, she doesn't need to rely on pages upon pages of description to get the point accross.  When she switches POV, and she does this a fair bit, we the reader are not left with whiplash.  On the contrary, we clearly know who's POV we're Why?  Because she does it with simplicity.  Yes, NR has mastered the art of simplicity.  Perhaps after writing eons of books I might get it right too.