[Deep Freeze] Sunday, December 14, 2008 6:53:05 AM
Good Morning, Boys and Girls! At last we have arrived at another episode of Insomniac Theater. A cool 4:30 in the morning here in blustery Vegas as we begin this installment. Having had more than an hour to ponder our subject matter, I thought we would lean in the direction of good writing! Ah! Good to see so many of you are excited! Let's begin:
We are often faced with the dilemma of what word to use when we are trying to impart a specific image to our reader. This Board is filled with those that choose words which, in this humble educator's opinion, are a bit shall we say...over the top? Unfortunately, I am one of those that has used improper or "over the top" words in an effort to make a point. There is also the profane word or ten that seem to be the everlasting crutch for some. If we are here on this Board, it is important to remember we are writing. We are using printedwords. All too often, we forget that words have auras. They have penumbrae or emanations that the good writer should respect. The word "enormity" is a great example.
Enormity is one of those words that carries excess baggage. We are dealing with something that is outrageous, horrifying and grossly evil. You see, words come in weights much like boxers do. They are like sweaters; small, medium, large, extra large and gigantic. The good writer knows that a word like enormity should be left in the file cabinet until we come across a genocide or something.
Next case; redundancy. Ah yes, that habit we all seem to share around here! Again, I am guilty of it and would first like to confess. One particularly offensive example is "advocate for". We say, " Many of us advocate for the rights of our members.." AARRRRGGGHH!! We may campaign for, argue for, beg for and plead for but advocacy takes a direct object! It needs no supplementary preposition.
Well, this concludes our episode for now. I do hope you have all enjoyed it and will be prepared for our quiz later.
