I belong to a community on a certain blogging site whereby people leave “advertisements” for pen-pals. As of late, there have been more than a few people denying the basic format of the advertisement, in praise of their own poetic nature. It’s more than a little irritating to me, if only because I think letting the beauty of words overcome you diverts you from their meaning.
I think language is a pretty amazing artifice overlaid upon the world. That is what it is – of course – a construction. We lose the marvel of language when we focus on the beauty of words. Words are meaningless without the world and a system of translation. They’re just symbols. Language is so intrinsic to our human experience that we lose sight so often of just how much work it takes. And how tricky and confusing the nature of that construction can be.
I come from the church of worshiping words, of abusing and contorting them into lavish poetry that never did them justice. Words are meant to express meaning, and if the meaning you mean to express is complex, than your words will operate on that complex level. Remember the simplest lines from Shakespeare and they are fraught with meanings, this is the true mastery of His Bardness. He delved into words for the many meanings and brought each meaning to the surface of his work. He explored the complexity of human nature through the complexity of language.
At the same time I yearn not for simplicity in writing, but rather for forthrightness. I think of flowery writing as a way to obscure the fact that you don’t have much worthwhile to say. I think it does an injustice to language to write prettily if what you’re saying is trite. Chances are, the more words you use, the less you have to say.
The magic of words is not within the words themselves. Words are worth nothing until they’ve been interpreted.
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