Use Your Words!

I must confess that I would make a poor English teacher beyond the enthusiasm I could call upon for the subject. I could not in most cases delineate why one sentence or paragraph works and another fails to. I put together a sentence only by feel, not by following the rules. I hated sentence diagrams, which failed entirely to illuminate anything for me. I would say that to the extent that I have any grasp of English grammar and vocabulary, it can be said to have been a case of "monkey see, monkey do".

Well-composed writing is as pleasing as that which it seeks to convey. When it's put together poorly in any respect, it hampers the writer's objectives. I find that much of what I encounter cries out to me for polishing. As much as this happens with the work of amateurs, it happens surprisingly often with alleged professionals, who are quite capable of doing better (regardless of deadline) but misjudge the value of expending more effort. Whichever category you are in, hear me well and you may benefit from the thinking of someone of such a modest status as I.

My method is, as I said, largely one of instinct. Beyond the basics, I just know when I've correctly written a sentence. When I publish a post on this blog, I have scrutinized it and turned each line around in my mind, arranging and re-arranging the words until I hit upon the most concise and well-ordered version of it that I can within the time period which I can allot to the exercise. There are many re-writes, often beginning in my head before I start typing. Each successive version is clearer and more effective, often due in part to substituting words better suited to the job than their predecessors.

On the vocabulary end, there are certain problems I see often and would dearly love to take care of myself, so please pay attention and do it for me. A big problem is that of limited vocabulary. Someone with this affliction frequently makes use of words which fail to convey the intended meaning or create unwanted associations in the mind of the reader. The thesaurus and dictionary help, but for a complete solution you have to enlarge your vocabulary the hard way. I absorbed much of mine incidentally from the media I have consumed and the people I've listened to over the course of my life. It requires time, energy and an inquisitive nature, but I can assure you that it's fun.

Lack of variety is another problem I see too often. It can result from ignorance, but it doesn't necessarily improve when one becomes acquainted with a greater number of words, for sometimes even hyper-literate writers lean too heavily on their favorites. When certain words are over-abundant, their positive impact lessens to the point that they can fatally damage the piece as a whole. Additional consideration will usually call to mind others that will suffice. In fact, I would say that careful thought will reveal that where you have the same adequate word in two places, you may in fact find somewhere in the recesses of your memory a perfect word for each one, and the piece becomes not just more interesting but more accurate.

With that, you now have a modicum of the wisdom which resulted from reflection on the failings of others and my attempts to do better. I will allow that I'm not yet perfect, and perhaps one might notice mistakes even in this very text. Whatever imperfections lie in it, one cannot go wrong in heeding this: Take care with your words, because it matters. Wouldn't you have your writing reflect intelligence, beauty and elegance? Regardless of its mission, you will profit more when it is polished and well-composed.