Monday, April 27, 2015

W is for Words

Words! We are wordsmiths.Words are our stock-in-trade. Or are they? I believe, much though I revere words, that they are more like trucks than trees. What? I mean they aren't - of themselves - anything but transporters of emotion, thoughts, ideas. They are like paint to a painter, like clay to a sculptor, like notes to a composer. Without heart and mind they simply lie there like so many fallen leaves. Inert. Pick them up, rearrange them, squeeze them, coax them - they become a sonnet or a memoir or a long letter to an old friend. Or a weekly report to your boss. When we revise we must look so closely at our word choice. That is where our voice resides. If we want to present our ideas in the most engaging way part of that will be from the words we choose. We must not be lazy in this regard!

For our first mad drafts we may have just thrown any word in but now we have to go back and make sure each one is robust and working for our ideas, our thoughts, our emotions. No slacker trucks with broken chassis and flat tires! We must replace all the slapdash with the well-built. Our shacks must become mansions, or at least strong sturdy cabins that will protect that inside of them.

Enough words for today...here is a picture I drew for Sketchbook Skool.





5 comments:

Elizabeth Spann Craig said...

Well put! Words are like paint to the painter.

And I love your picture!

Anonymous said...

I love that picture! And you're so right about words, Jan. Part of revision is to go back and consider each one. Is it doing what we need it to do? If not, perhaps we need to re-think our choices. Each word matters.

Susan Scott said...

lovely sketch Jan, the story tellers in the branches in among the blue - and the words - thank you!

Karen Jones Gowen said...

You're a lovely artist, this is fun to look at. I used to draw when I was young but wasn't very good at it. Words are my true love!

Jan Morrison said...

Mine too Karen! But creating anything is right behind...