Why do you have to “put your two cents in”.. . But it’s only a “penny for your thoughts”? Where’s that extra penny going to?
Some of our idioms are rather interesting and even contradictory – or at best, rather confusing when you stop and think about them.
The thought quoted above made me think – dangerous habit, I know. As writers we need to be quite careful about the words we use, the expressions we incorporate in our work and the idioms, similes, cliches and other phrases we so lazily include in our articles, blogs and stories. Original and memorable writing takes effort.
Original writing that expresses old ideas in new ways will always appear fresh, interesting and compelling. It will be like applying a coat of paint to an old building; it will still be that dilapidated structure, but will look great, or at least quite a bit better.
Related article:
Rose in our garden
Rain on Rose Petals
I stand
In the soft
Morning light
With raindrops
Softly trickling
Down my face
Cool and sweet
(Lip-lick delight).
I stoop
In the soft
Morning light
To watch
Gentle droplets
Caressing rose petals
Lingeringly
(Love-stroke delight).
I bend
In the soft
Morning light
To catch
The sun’s
Early rays
In pink petal dazzle
(Diamond delight).
I drink deeply from its fine perfume.
All rights reserved.
Copyright 2006 Trevor W. Hampel.
I guess that title should be more correctly written: “For whom do you write?” but that sounds too stuffy.
It is a question I don’t think I’ve spent a great deal of time thinking about. Do I write for some nebulous person who happens to be a conglomerate of many readers? Do I write to satisfy the editor of a magazine so my story or article will be published? Do I write for the readers of this blog who regularly leave comments?
I’m not really sure.
One thing I am certain about, however, is that I definitely write for myself. The satisfaction I derive from the creative process is worth the many long hours at the keyboard. I also like the warm glow I get when a piece works, or a story turns out far beyond my expectations. Coming back to something I wrote decades ago and getting a glimpse of a younger me, wow – that’s worth it.
It is almost trite to say, because it has been said so many times by some many writers, but I really HAVE to write. Not being able to write is like not being able to breathe. It is so much a part of who I am.
A recent article by Liz Strauss on Successful Blog has made me rethink this issue. Perhaps there is one person who is more important than me when it comes to my readers.
Link:
How important does a person have to be before they are considered assassinated instead of just murdered?
Words are strange.
Words are powerful.
You never know exactly what they mean, or how they are being used by a writer or a speaker. There are so many nuances with words in English which just add so much colour to our language. In the quote above, two words, “murdered” and “assassinated” are used. To that we might add “slaughtered” and “man-slaughter.” Why not just say “killed.” That is because each word has different shades of meaning, each word has implications for the reader or listener and each would draw on different emotions.