If I Told You So…

If I said that in this world, the birds are sometimes blue, would you try to find meaning in what I said? Would you assume that it was a metaphor of some sort?

The manner of the statement makes little difference, but it is a random statement that might possibly sound like it could be a metaphor of some sort. There was no meaning intended, but a person who read the statement might try to decipher it.

But, that doesn’t necessarily mean the statement is meaningless, just that the author did not intend for the statement to have any particular meaning. The reader has the power to create meaning for the statement, and this power is amplified by the obscurity of the statement.

Intentions

In writing, it is commonly advised to know of your audience and purpose beforehand. This is essentially true in any situation involving communication to the masses. When a person gives a speech, a degree of clarity is expected. We hear speeches that arouse emotions, promote ideas, or inform of the world’s happenings. We do not, however, often hear of a person rising to the podium to say “In this world, the birds are sometimes blue” unless the speaker beforehand had alluded of a metaphor relating to either birds or the color blue.

When a person writes, he or she becomes an author. He or she is in a state in which he or she must discern among words and choose combination of words to become statements. A person can write like an artisan who may choose a more poetic, freeflowing cache of words, or a person could write like a mathematician who coherently leads each conclusion into the next. It’s all a matter of choosing a style that suits the purpose.

An author is a communicator, and an author who is not might just be a rambler. As a communicator, the author’s purpose is to guide the reader into the purpose of the writing. By being clear, the author maintains control over the communication; the reader becomes restricted in his or her ability to mentally manipulate the meanings of the words. The author’s meaning is clear, so the minds of those who read follow along each point. Even in poetry, the meaning is channeled into coherence so that a poem may become more than just simply flowing words.

Thus we discover Writing 101. Clarity means points that embed themselves into the minds of the readers you sway. Clarity means turning the science into less than a superficial magic of the world. Clarity is efficient, and clarity is for a practical world.

Tags: communication, writing

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 9th, 2008 at 9:26 pm and is filed under Reflections. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.