Writers fell in love with words early on. Sometimes it's a challenge to find the right descriptive word or character's utterance. As Mark Twain put it:
The difference between the almost right word & the right word is really a large matter--it's the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning. - Letter to George Bainton, 10/15/1888
Words are the tools of our trade. We arrange them this way and that way as we form the sentences of our work. We change them all around, delete them, bring them back, try a different word, and still a different one, and generally beat the poor things silly until we're satisfied they are precisely the right words in the right order. (We call this "polishing," but it's more like pulling teeth, at least for me.)
When I came across this post by Doe Zantamata about the power of spoken words, I realized it's just as important to speak the right words and use more care choosing them.
I'm fond of sarcasm, and I know that sometimes my words have been hurtful, though not always intentionally so. Like the experiences of so many other people I know, the words I heard in childhood still have the power to maim (if we let them.) I resolve to speak more kindly, to choose my spoken words as carefully as the written ones.
Because it is, indeed, "a large matter."
Nicely put, Candace. Whether in business, personal or family relationships; it can be difficult to have the tough conversations that strike a fair balance between firm and kind without wounding. Communicating a decisive message, which is non-destructive to the other person's ego, is a challenge.
ReplyDeleteThis is one important reason why I am glad I had three boys and not girls. Boys may on occasion get angry and physical until taught not to, but girls use words. And words are much more long-lasting in the pain inflicted, and more difficult to moderate.
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