”WORDS

By Ella M. Ware

GIVEN a good command of the English language, if you can not express yourself vigorously, tersely and beautifully, the fault lies—not with the language but with you. It means that your ideas are not fully fledged, not strong enough, not sufficiently developed to make their flight into the big world of expression. They are still weak and imperfectly developed; they must be kept a little longer till their wings have grown.

It is only when a thought is bold and confident and clear that it can force its way into the open. The idea must precede the phrase, the spirit must come before the form. You can not take empty words, however beautiful, and breathe into them the breath of life. The soul of the thing must create its own body; the kernel must come before the shell; in other words, the movement must be from interior to exterior, a perfect and natural growth.

With this simple fact in mind, you may solve all the secrets of beautiful expression. With this for your literary creed, you may be sure to avoid any affectation of phrasing or poorness of technique. The very power of your idea will insure the best choice of language, and you will find yourself seizing instinctively the most graphic, masterful words in which to clothe your text.

Not that this is by any means an easy matter; it implies the most earnest effort, the most steadfast patience, the deepest and most determined mental concentration. It means that before you attempt to write you must do a vast amount of capable thinking, careful selection and genuine hard work. You must fan the first spark of inspiration into such a steady flame that its heat will be irresistible, developing your enthusiasm with a clear, deliberate mind, and bringing your thoughts into a state of such perfect conciseness and consistency that they will inevitably crystallize themselves in the most appropriate way.

Only by this method can you be sure of ultimate success; for the very sincerity and boldness of your theme will carve it in lovelier marble than any polished artificiality could hope to create.”

Reference Data:

The Edition: The Journal of Information for Literary Workers, Vols. 33-34, 1911, page 20