About Writing, Putting Thoughts into Words

Written July 2007
Yesterday I came upon my favorite little book, The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White. It is a powerful book and I am in awe of its simplicity and practicality. And, I fear that much of my writing demonstrates my lack of a solid grasp of its rules and principles. I am therefore engaged in re-reading and re-studying; making an effort to grok more of its counsel and wisdom.

Throughout my adult life I have fallen into the traps laid by ill-used words. To my dismay and chagrin I have offended and misinformed without intent because of a carelessly chosen word or sloppily constructed phrase. I have too often seen a carefully conceived positive thought turn into emotion-charged negativity in the mind of the reader. A single word or chain of words carelessly linked can cause havoc that is not easily undone; sometimes irreparable damage is done. I know this because I have been the author of such words. Aside from breaking the little book’s rules and principles, there are many reasons for such occurrences, including:

All of the above impact the craft of writing. They also suggest a recipe for successfully transforming thought into written words. The last, editing and rewriting, are absolutely critical in order to facilitate the degree of reader comprehension hoped for by the writer.

Once written words have been sent forth, they cannot be effectively recalled. If your thoughts are important enough to be put into written words and if those written words are important enough to be distributed, it is important that they be the best possible reflection of the thoughts that generated them. This is the work of a craftsperson; it calls for a high degree of skill in the art of written communication. Like producing a piece of fine furniture, your material must be chosen, prepared, assembled and finished with great care and deliberation. The finish is perhaps the hardest part – sanding, re-sanding, coating, re-sanding and re-coating until the desired, the intended degree of perfection is attained. Anything less is cheap and shabby. The craftsmanship of the writer is more exacting in its demands because of its potential impact on the heart and mind of the reader.

I have been guilty of shabby or sloppy workmanship; fortunately much of it is unpublished. There is a place, however, for sloppiness in writing. It is called an outline or a rough-draft and sometimes, journaling. The value of such writing lies in its yet unexplored unexpressed potential. It is often a necessary beginning …

Thoughts have potential … great thoughts have great potential. Realized potential calls for careful, well executed craftsmanship.

A note about inspired writing – we’ve undoubtedly all read the powerful moving words of inspired writers. It is not the writing that is inspired; inspiration resides in the realm of thoughts. The transformation of inspired thought into "inspired" words takes great skill. The beauty and wonder of inspired thoughts are easily diluted, distorted or destroyed by sloppy word-craft.

Sometimes what I write is not what I wrote. Sometimes this is simply the result of pen on paper or fingers on keyboard not keeping up with my racing thoughts. I sometimes find thoughts coursing so rapidly through consciousness that I can do little more than jot down brief notes. Thoughts can be so fleeting that they are lost before they can find expression in the written word.

I have a vivid memory from some forty years ago; of sitting in a cubicle typing a business letter. I was carefully choosing words and phrases; carefully copying specifications and numbers from hand-written notes and making a determined effort to be accurate, clear and concise. I reread and checked what I had written at least three times before handing it to someone else to proof-read. At the start of one sentence she found that I had typed the word "the" three times. Therein lies another hindrance to well crafted writing – the mind’s persistent ability to transform what the eye sees into what we want it to see. When I wrote "The The The"… what I wrote was not what I thought I had written. Worse yet, when I read and reread what I had written, I read only what I thought I had written, not what was actually on the paper; my brain had "corrected" the image sent inward from my eyes. In a similar manner I’ve also had the experience of my mind filling in missing words or mentally correcting typos without conscious awareness of what was being done… I was correctly reading the textual thought, but misreading the actual words on the paper.

One of the deadliest minefields for writers is Email. Seemingly inherent in email is self-imposed need for brevity and a perceived need for speed. One of the most troublesome aspects of email communication is the ostensible need to compose live – online. The simplest, most productive and profitable solution is to compose off line using a word processor. This provides some necessary breathing room and makes it easier to re-think what’s been said, to check grammar and spelling, to re-read, edit and rewrite before hitting the send button. After the work is appropriately edited it can easily be cut and pasted into an email and sent on its way.

Well, I’ve about run out of steam … time to wrap this up, I guess. Having nearly finished, I’m left wondering why? What’s this all about, really? Perhaps it is little more than a subconscious-driven attempt to document my on-going need to grok the rules and principles of the little book. It is, perhaps, only necessary practice.

What I do know is that, for me, quick and dirty -off the top of my head- writing is also an important part of my learning process. It helps me to explore and organize my thoughts and to learn and clarify that which I think I may be learning – and, it is just plain fun. Hopefully, some of what I write is worthy of greater efforts, of being taken a few steps further …