Bad Words, Bad Rap

Hello Everyone,

Yesterday, I had a conversation with a friend and fellow English instructor about "bad words," specifically about the old adage that insists people only use so-called curse words because they are uneducated and lack a decent vocabulary. While the premise itself is obviously ridiculous (for example, many of my most educated and intelligent friends could make the Devil blush with the language they use), it does raise an interesting question: in our modern society, what's so bad about bad words?

I'll admit that I don't have a clear response to this question. On the one hand, I appreciate power and passion that these "dirty" words can project. Like many other professional writers, I use them all the time in my fiction, as sentences like "The whole place spelled like poop" just doesn't have the impact of a more honest version. This of course doesn't take my disdain for censorship into account, or my distaste for the prudishness that has been a part of my field for so long.

Having said that, I must also admit that I'd be rather horrified if my two-year-old son suddenly began "swearing like a sailor." In fact, I'd react pretty negatively if I heard someone else's toddler doing the same, questioning both parenting skills and overall intelligence. And why? Why is it appropriate for me to use such language and not my little boy? Or is it appropriate at all?

The Creative Writing Bug

Do you want to write a novel? Do you have a slew of interesting characters and scenes and action sequences rattling around in your head? Perhaps they've been there for years, and perhaps you've even started on a book a few times, always topping off at around 50 pages. You go to work, put in your eight hours (probably far more these days), and always wonder if you've really got the literary chops to one day...one sweet day...write a real novel.

Here's my advice: just write it!

I know that may seem like one of those "easy-to-say-but-much-harder-to-do" kinds of statements, but I truly believe it. Over the years, I've encountered so many great people with the desire and potential to write good fiction who just never get around to it. They work in offices, on construction sites, in classrooms or factories; they possess incredible imaginations, but they doubt themselves far too much, at least in regards to their literary skills. Here's the thing: you don't need to create a masterpiece; you don't need to produce plots like Shakespeare or prose like Faulkner, and you don't need to quit your job or never see your kids again. You simply need give yourself a daily word count (say 500 words), sit down and write every day or every other day, and slowly build that book.

Now, I'm not saying it's easy, and I'm not saying you'll necessarily get published, especially by a major house. I've written 4 novels, and only the last two were published. Still, those other drawer-bound books taught me a great deal about the process of writing a novel and about myself as a writer and storyteller. They were invaluable, and to be honest I got a good deal of enjoyment out of writing them. When I finally approached my third book, I had writing discipline, I'd found my personal writing style, I'd experimented with methods of plot and character development, and I found motivation in all the words behind me.

Write your book. When you get to page 50, keep writing. Don't worry if it's lousy. You can always go back and change previous chapters. Enjoy the process, the characters, the oh-so-right word that appears in your mind when writing a difficult sentences. Writing is about connection, both to your readers and to yourself. So write, live, and connect.

The Truth About Writing

Here's the truth: despite what multitudes of English instructors may have told you, writing is not all about grammar, punctuation and spelling. In fact, focusing too much on such mechanical skills--as countless English teachers and standardized tests have proven--can actually interfere with a person's ability to learn how to write well. With the start of every new semester, I encounter throngs of students who have fallen victim to this misconception:

"I'm a terrible writer," many claim, certain their difficulties with commas makes them such.

"Writing is totally boring," others will claim, having surely suffered through years of sentence diagramming and grammar drills.

Untrue--on both counts. While some proficiency with grammar, spelling and punctuation is necessary to produce writings others can understand and will take seriously, such "rules" are of minimalistic importance. Think of these mechanical aspects like the nails and screws of a house. While placing them in the correct spots is important, as they keep the house from falling down, no one ever buys a house because of its pretty and well-placed nails and screws. Instead, people are interested in the architecture, the color, the sizes of the rooms, and the landscaping.

The same is true of writing: readers (beyond those grammar-obsessed teachers, anyway) are more interested in how you organize your information, the text's approach to a problem, the development and details supporting your ideas, and indeed the "sound" of your sentences. The best way to improve your skills in all of these areas--including mechanics, by the way--is to dump the drills and diagramming and instead practice at real writing whenever possible. After all, learning to write well is more like learning to drive well or pilot an airplane well than memorizing facts and rules for a biology test.