Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

For some reason, we often run away from the words that we want most to convey.

I work with persons who are trying to write. They show me their draft, we talk, we walk through the words, and I ask questions. The questions usually lead to grimaces and twisted expressions, struggled breathing, quick exhales, and the like.

I know the line of questioning works when the other person says something like,

• What I’m trying to say is…
• What I’m trying to get across is…
• I want them to know…

“Great!” I tell them. “Write those words.”

Such from me usually leads to, “but, if I did that…” If the writer wrote what she was trying to say, the reader would know what the writer wanted them to know.

Somehow, that basic concept breaks some rule that the frustrated writer was taught at an impressionable age. Someone once declared that it was best to lead the reader around in circles with hints and riddles instead of clearly and briefly stating what it was the writer wanted to state.

Folks, stop listening to whatever that person told you. Write what you are trying to say (or is that “write what you are trying to write” or something?). Say what you are trying to say. Write what you want the reader to know. Be clear and brief.

If you are writing a mystery novel, okay, don’t state the name of the culprit on the first page. Go around in circles with little clues and hints and riddles.

Otherwise, write what you are trying to say. Write those words.