Principle
I have been reading about writing. My eyes have been swimming with words regarding passive vs. active voices, smothered verbs, modifiers, arrangement, variation, et cetera. I miss that which makes me focus on my writing, and this is my way of making myself see my words more clearly.
Writing classes unnerved me when I was in school. There was the one professor who read my essay in front of the class-the reason I became an English major (an all too common story I realized later among my English major classmates)-but ever after, the professors I encountered were intimidating and demanding or flighty and hard to pin down. All I wanted was somewhere in between, but such is the way of things, it seems.
I never took a creative writing class because it felt too personal, and I really regret that now. But the class that proved to be the most useful was the least personal. In technical writing we wrote copy for brochures and other business documents and discussed how to convey information clearly. The techniques I learned in this class followed me everywhere, and I am grateful.
That’s one of the things I have enjoyed about blogging-once I wrapped my head around the idea (to which I was adamantly opposed initially). It gives me an opportunity to focus on writing. It reminds me that writing is a craft as well as an art. Granted, only about two entries a year probably show any improvement to my craft. But I’m getting there. *smile*
I’m getting there on a lot of things lately. The last couple of weeks have held many eye/heart opening conversations. I’ve had to admit that I’ve been wrong a lot, but I think it’s for the best.
“Prefer the simple word to the farfetched, and the right word to the almost right.” I am trying to discern what is simple and what is farfetched. These days, I prefer the simple. Perhaps one day, I will get it right.
Writing classes unnerved me when I was in school. There was the one professor who read my essay in front of the class-the reason I became an English major (an all too common story I realized later among my English major classmates)-but ever after, the professors I encountered were intimidating and demanding or flighty and hard to pin down. All I wanted was somewhere in between, but such is the way of things, it seems.
I never took a creative writing class because it felt too personal, and I really regret that now. But the class that proved to be the most useful was the least personal. In technical writing we wrote copy for brochures and other business documents and discussed how to convey information clearly. The techniques I learned in this class followed me everywhere, and I am grateful.
That’s one of the things I have enjoyed about blogging-once I wrapped my head around the idea (to which I was adamantly opposed initially). It gives me an opportunity to focus on writing. It reminds me that writing is a craft as well as an art. Granted, only about two entries a year probably show any improvement to my craft. But I’m getting there. *smile*
I’m getting there on a lot of things lately. The last couple of weeks have held many eye/heart opening conversations. I’ve had to admit that I’ve been wrong a lot, but I think it’s for the best.
“Prefer the simple word to the farfetched, and the right word to the almost right.” I am trying to discern what is simple and what is farfetched. These days, I prefer the simple. Perhaps one day, I will get it right.