On Words

I have got to learn to reign it in. Sorry that yesterday's post was so damn long.

See, the thing is, I really like writing. It's what I studied as an undergrad, and then I had a few different jobs as a writer before going back to school. Law school, itself, is very writing-oriented; unfortunately, it's not the type of writing that I "enjoy." I'm obviously wordy (in case you hadn't noticed), and we're being trained, as legal writers, to write concisely and clearly, with as much repetition and as little variety as possible to get our point across without taxing the (obviously busy) legal audience, who will not have hours to spare for poring over lovingly crafted memorandum. I can do it; eventually, I'll be able to do it well. But it's not my favorite.

Words are my favorite. The way that they slide out of your mouth, over your tongue and into the air, for others to pick up and absorb as fast as you can say them. The way they have so many different variations and functions, and can be flipped from adverb to adjective, from noun to verb - no, I'm not averse to words like "gifting" or "facebooking." The way you can say the same thing, in the same language, in 2 big words, 2 little words, or a dozen medium-sized words. The way you can add and subtract letters from words to make people hear an accent in their head. The way you can string them together on the page or in the air to make people see something, hear something, smell or taste or feel something that is otherwise outside their reality.

Words are not dry, bland, dull creations laid down in centuries past only to give children headaches and heartaches about spelling quizzes and book reports. Words can be a full-body experience if put together the right way. They get into your head as you're sitting on your sofa in mid-November and dance around and sing and suddenly it's June, the cliffs are falling down into the ocean beside you and the salt on the lupines to your left is so strong that it burns your nose. You're not really sure how you ended up there, but you know the moment your eyes leave the page you'll be back in your living room, and you're not ready to leave the water's edge.

I could go on and on. Suffice it to say that, sometimes, there are so many words in my head that they just fall out all over the place, and I hope you can bear with me.