It’s time for a little spring cleaning in the writing department; a bit of a re-boot with the goal of improving clarity, succinctness and impact in what I write. Along with some answers to the proper use of seemingly similar words such as though and although, I’ve discovered a few, new-to-me, rules of the English language.
Recently I came across “The Elements of Eloquence: How to Turn the Perfect English Phrase” by Mark Forsyth. He explains that adjectives in English ABSOLUTELY have to be in this order: opinion – size – age – shape – colour – origin – material – purpose, noun. So, you can have a lovely, little, old, rectangular, green, French, silver, whittling knife. He warns that if you mess with that word order in the slightest, you’ll sound like a maniac. The order seems somewhat instinctual but I haven’t put it to the test with my own writing yet. I do know that ‘brown, lazy, dog’ doesn’t sound right and that, as size comes before colour, a green, great, dragon can’t exist.
A really interesting writing tidbit I discovered was that contractions can only be used in dialogue. This is something I’ve never thought about before but will always remember.
It’s been fun satisfying my curiosity about the best or proper use of seemingly similar words such as further/farther. Who doesn’t want to make an informed decision? Farther infers distance and further is used in an abstract sense, for example to investigate something further. In the case of despite/in spite of and though/although and many similar pairings, they can be used interchangeably with preference given to one over the other being stronger or implying more formality.
I’m finally clear on the difference between enquire and inquire; the general sense of asking and usually leaning toward more formal investigation, respectively.
Often, I provide too much background information instead of getting to the point and delivering greater impact sooner. As being concise is my goal, I’m sweeping away all extra, superfluous words. Probably the word ‘extra’ in the previous sentence was not needed.
There are some crutch word problems in my writing generally. Words I just use too often such as ‘just’ (see what I mean?) ‘some’, ‘thing’, ‘that’, ‘these’ and many more. Such words can be vague and passive, especially with over use, but a little extra effort to find substitutions can bring more clarity and action to whatever is being written. This is one of the most important tweaks for me when editing.
The more I practice the art of writing, the more I realize how much more there is to learn. As the saying goes, rules are made to be broken but I’m not so sure when it comes to language and writing.
American writer, Henry Miller had eleven commandments of writing and daily creative routines. Number 3 on the list is ‘Don’t be nervous. Work calmly, joyously, recklessly on whatever is in hand.’
Sounds like a great rule, easily followed.
