“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.”
—Mark Twain
Why don’t any of us adults read Mark Twain anymore? I’ve always meant to check out his supposedly brilliant travel writing, including Innocents Abroad
“Words too familiar, or too remote, defeat the purpose of a poet. From those sounds which we hear on small or on coarse occasions, we do not easily receive strong impressions, or delightful images; and words to which we are early strangers, whenever they occur, draw that attention on themselves which they should transmit to other things.”
—Samuel Johnson, from his “Lives of the Poets” series
The advice doesn’t apply only to poets. Use interesting, surprising words, but don’t choose the longest, most obscure synonym from your thesaurus in an attempt to sound more literate.
“I never knew what was meant by choice of words. It was one word or none.”
—Robert Frost
I always wonder if writers are lying when they make statements like this, bemused at the difficulties that frustrate other writers. Was it that easy for you, Robert Frost?
“Words have weight, sound and appearance; it is only by considering these that you can write a sentence that is good to look at and good to listen to.”
—Somerset Maugham
Any Maugham fans out there? Another writer on my “to read” list, but should I start with The Razor’s Edge
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January 15th, 2007 at 4:12 pm
Love these quotes on words. The weight of words is so important to consider, and that’s what reading closely, per Francine Prose and countless others, is teaching us.
re Maugham: I would start with The Moon and Sixpence, a brilliant little novel about longing. Ah, longing . . .