RendezvouswithGretchenRhue

Reading something that’s confusing, ill-ordered, or poorly described ranks high on my list of pet peeves–especially when I find I’ve penned it myself! Writing is like painting. The reader should see a work of art, not something sloppy or distorted.

While writing at our local 24-hour coffee shop, I was reminded of a good point to add to my TOP TEN WRITING ESSENTIALS list. The background music in the restaurant came in particularly loud at this table and I was struggling to block it out. The volume wasn’t the only issue I had with the music. Its  repetitive lyrics were really getting on my nerves until I realized what the musician was singing: “Say what you mean to say.”

It felt like a subliminal reminder from a class I’d taken or a blog I’d read. I needed to clarify things, simplify, and restructure in order to communicate the story. I actually laughed out loud because even the piped-in music was teaching me the writing basics.

My favorite English teacher in high school demonstrated this point to my class by making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in front of the class. Yes, a P.B.J. As crazy as that sounds, it was actually a good lesson in ‘saying what you mean to say’ because the students had to dictate every step of making the sandwich. If we said, “Spread the peanut butter on the bread,” he would spread it on the outer edge of the crust instead of on the flat side where you would usually put it. He was making the point that your reader–or in this case ‘sandwich maker’– may not understand what you mean unless you really spell it out.

The omission of important words can change meaning in a sentence as well. A dear friend of mine brought over a meal for my family after I had come home from the hospital. The meal’s main course was lasagna. It was so good, I had to ask her what brand it was. “Stouffer’s,” came her reply. I said, “That’s funny. I make that brand all the time, but this tasted better than Stouffer’s.” She said, “That’s because you didn’t make it.” She wasn’t the type of person to make wise-cracks, so I slowly ascertained that she meant, “That’s because you didn’t ‘HAVE TO’ make it.” Two little missing words changed the meaning of the sentence drastically. They give me a chuckle every time I think of them.

So, NUMBER NINE on the TOP TEN WRITING ESSENTIALS list is SAY WHAT YOU MEAN TO SAY.