A. LaFaye's Blog: Word Wanderings Rest Stop - Posts Tagged "learning"
Pre & Conie: Those Cutting Twins of Clear Writing
Besides having prefixes that sound like the nicknames of twins--"precise" and "concise" are excellent writing tools once you learn how to wield them. Until then, they're often red letters in the margins of your work with comments like "Can you be more precise here? " or "Is this as concisely written as it could be?"
Or perhaps that just me.
Being precise and concise are cornerstones of good writing --saying just the right thing in the least amount of words possible is an excellent writing goal in most quarters. Interestingly enough, both words are drawn from a Latin word being "to cut" and we all know how easy it is to "cut back" our own writing. Right?
Well, here are two approaches that could work for you, but I'm of the opinion that there are no hard and fast rules for writing. It's all a matter of finding what works for the type of writer you are, but that may just bw because every rule that starts, "To be a real writer, you must..." ends with something I don't do.
So, here's some advice from an "unreal" writer who has a good deal of fun with word play.
Writing everything we want to say, then cutting back--the pruning approach--works for some. For more on doing a "Poetic Weed" please take a look at my blog on the subject, or wing it!
For this entry, I'm going to focus on "the pre" of precision and look at ways you can learn to increase you precision and brevity before you even start writing.
When you study the writing of others and conscientiously explore language, you sharpen your word smithing tools.
Precision requires knowing lots of words. For instance, what's the name of the groove between the nose and the upper lip? The philtrum. What's the difference between cleaning, mucking, and sluicing a gutter? Why does the difference matter as a writer?
My answer to question to two is: connotation, specificity, and sound.
"Cleaning" suggests a crispness and a sanitary goal with a spic and span result and has a clipped opening and a soft, elongated ending, in terms of sound.
"mucking" suggests sloppy, dirty, work to remove something disgusting, but with a dingy end result. A mucked out stall rarely looks pristine, where as a cleaned stall should. It also has a mmm of a beginning and "uck" in the middle and a drawn out end for musicality that reflects the messy, hard, ongoing work involved.
"sluicing," one of my favorite words, is quite active and organic and requires a lot of water pressure on your gutters and will probably make a living mess out of everything else, if you use this method. The sound quality is quite slurry with a c kicker in the middle.
Learning new words can be done by reading the dictionary--one of the reasons I love the print version. You can't easily happen upon a new word when looking it up on learnanewword.com (not a real site), but you can stumble upon a few beauts wondering through the old OED. That's how I learned "twit" has been around since about the 13th century and it's the same thing all that time. Not many words can say that.
But new words are best learned in context by reading and that's the best way to internalize being precise and concise, read the work of poets, reporters, fiction writers, and cartoonists you love to see just how they do it. Look up new words. Play with them--their meaning, their nuances, their sound, their application in house maintenance (I word I have yet to learn how to spell without assistance).
So go out there and find some new literary foot soldiers you might put to good use. If you pinpoint a fine precise word, please share it in the comment section. Or if you have a concise way to describe something complicated like an argument that allows us to see it in a new way, do share, please.
Or perhaps that just me.
Being precise and concise are cornerstones of good writing --saying just the right thing in the least amount of words possible is an excellent writing goal in most quarters. Interestingly enough, both words are drawn from a Latin word being "to cut" and we all know how easy it is to "cut back" our own writing. Right?
Well, here are two approaches that could work for you, but I'm of the opinion that there are no hard and fast rules for writing. It's all a matter of finding what works for the type of writer you are, but that may just bw because every rule that starts, "To be a real writer, you must..." ends with something I don't do.
So, here's some advice from an "unreal" writer who has a good deal of fun with word play.
Writing everything we want to say, then cutting back--the pruning approach--works for some. For more on doing a "Poetic Weed" please take a look at my blog on the subject, or wing it!
For this entry, I'm going to focus on "the pre" of precision and look at ways you can learn to increase you precision and brevity before you even start writing.
When you study the writing of others and conscientiously explore language, you sharpen your word smithing tools.
Precision requires knowing lots of words. For instance, what's the name of the groove between the nose and the upper lip? The philtrum. What's the difference between cleaning, mucking, and sluicing a gutter? Why does the difference matter as a writer?
My answer to question to two is: connotation, specificity, and sound.
"Cleaning" suggests a crispness and a sanitary goal with a spic and span result and has a clipped opening and a soft, elongated ending, in terms of sound.
"mucking" suggests sloppy, dirty, work to remove something disgusting, but with a dingy end result. A mucked out stall rarely looks pristine, where as a cleaned stall should. It also has a mmm of a beginning and "uck" in the middle and a drawn out end for musicality that reflects the messy, hard, ongoing work involved.
"sluicing," one of my favorite words, is quite active and organic and requires a lot of water pressure on your gutters and will probably make a living mess out of everything else, if you use this method. The sound quality is quite slurry with a c kicker in the middle.
Learning new words can be done by reading the dictionary--one of the reasons I love the print version. You can't easily happen upon a new word when looking it up on learnanewword.com (not a real site), but you can stumble upon a few beauts wondering through the old OED. That's how I learned "twit" has been around since about the 13th century and it's the same thing all that time. Not many words can say that.
But new words are best learned in context by reading and that's the best way to internalize being precise and concise, read the work of poets, reporters, fiction writers, and cartoonists you love to see just how they do it. Look up new words. Play with them--their meaning, their nuances, their sound, their application in house maintenance (I word I have yet to learn how to spell without assistance).
So go out there and find some new literary foot soldiers you might put to good use. If you pinpoint a fine precise word, please share it in the comment section. Or if you have a concise way to describe something complicated like an argument that allows us to see it in a new way, do share, please.
Back to Homework--This one is for students!
It's time to head back to school, store up your reserves for winter, let your leaves fall, fill your backpack, and get ready for homework.
It's also a time of new clothes, seeing friends in the hallways, and forcing people to conform--whether it's following the rules of the classroom or fitting in with the cool kids, school is often about how to conform to social standards.
I'd love to suggest some revised homework.
Yes, you still have to do your math, read the assigned books, and follow the classroom rules,but while you do that, consider these assignments
1. Be Yourself. It's a lot harder than it sounds. Be true to who you are not who the world wants you to be. If everyone else hates broccoli, but you love it--embrace the broc! Or just eat it with a smile. If you sing off key, but love to do it--let her the tunes fly.
Advice on being yourself
2. Make the world a better place. Don't just walk by trash in the street, pick up. Don't stand by while others are being teased or treated poorly. Stand up for them. If you see something that needs to be changed in our society, see how you can be a part of that change.
Here's just a short list of incredible charities started by kids:
10 Charities Started by Kids
3. Learn something new. Not because you've been assigned to do it, but because you want to know more about the world around you.
Why is there dew on grass?
What makes us yawn?
Where is Bora Bora?
What is a Spoon Billed Sandpiper?
Here's a place to start:
An Encyclopedia for Kids text
4. Create. Draw, sculpt, paint--cut paper into cool shapes, anything to inspire your creativity, let your mind free, and see where it leads you.
An Encyclopedia for Kids text
5. Get to know someone new. We often pass people in the halls we never get to know because their "not cool" says who? And why take their word for it. Or their in another grade or you don't have them in class. Take a chance. You may find out they're a great person.
6. Try something you've never done before. Skateboarding. Gymnastics. Baking a pie. Talking to an adult. What ever it is don't be afraid to fail. Failure is the first step to success!
7. As your parents about their school days. Not your typical "I walked five miles to school" type stuff, but how they felt about their first day, their worst memory, their funniest moment, their proudest moment ... whatever it is, I bet you'll find out your parents are lot more like you than you thought.
8. Declare do nothing day. When you've had too much to do and you need a break. Declare it a 'do nothing day' or even if it's a "do nothing" hour. Give yourself time to just chill.
9. Explore your world. Take a walk. Bring a camera, binoculars, or a phone. Find something you haven't seen before--take a picture--you could draw it, write about it, tell a story or just check it out.
10. Read. Read. Read. The more you read. The more you know. The more you know, the more you grow.
Check out this cool organization that may set fire to your reading habits:
Burning Through Pages
Have a great year!
It's also a time of new clothes, seeing friends in the hallways, and forcing people to conform--whether it's following the rules of the classroom or fitting in with the cool kids, school is often about how to conform to social standards.
I'd love to suggest some revised homework.
Yes, you still have to do your math, read the assigned books, and follow the classroom rules,but while you do that, consider these assignments
1. Be Yourself. It's a lot harder than it sounds. Be true to who you are not who the world wants you to be. If everyone else hates broccoli, but you love it--embrace the broc! Or just eat it with a smile. If you sing off key, but love to do it--let her the tunes fly.
Advice on being yourself
2. Make the world a better place. Don't just walk by trash in the street, pick up. Don't stand by while others are being teased or treated poorly. Stand up for them. If you see something that needs to be changed in our society, see how you can be a part of that change.
Here's just a short list of incredible charities started by kids:
10 Charities Started by Kids
3. Learn something new. Not because you've been assigned to do it, but because you want to know more about the world around you.
Why is there dew on grass?
What makes us yawn?
Where is Bora Bora?
What is a Spoon Billed Sandpiper?
Here's a place to start:
An Encyclopedia for Kids text
4. Create. Draw, sculpt, paint--cut paper into cool shapes, anything to inspire your creativity, let your mind free, and see where it leads you.
An Encyclopedia for Kids text
5. Get to know someone new. We often pass people in the halls we never get to know because their "not cool" says who? And why take their word for it. Or their in another grade or you don't have them in class. Take a chance. You may find out they're a great person.
6. Try something you've never done before. Skateboarding. Gymnastics. Baking a pie. Talking to an adult. What ever it is don't be afraid to fail. Failure is the first step to success!
7. As your parents about their school days. Not your typical "I walked five miles to school" type stuff, but how they felt about their first day, their worst memory, their funniest moment, their proudest moment ... whatever it is, I bet you'll find out your parents are lot more like you than you thought.
8. Declare do nothing day. When you've had too much to do and you need a break. Declare it a 'do nothing day' or even if it's a "do nothing" hour. Give yourself time to just chill.
9. Explore your world. Take a walk. Bring a camera, binoculars, or a phone. Find something you haven't seen before--take a picture--you could draw it, write about it, tell a story or just check it out.
10. Read. Read. Read. The more you read. The more you know. The more you know, the more you grow.
Check out this cool organization that may set fire to your reading habits:
Burning Through Pages
Have a great year!
Word Wanderings Rest Stop
A few words on writing and wandering and where the two weave together.
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