'Try.' - A four letter word

  by Kenneth Mulholland

Country Editor for Australia

Great, you've finished!

   The last words are written. The work is done. A wave of satisfaction at seeing your story to a conclusion sweeps over you. All done. All in a torrent of words.    Writer's block? Ha!
   All done.
   Yet is it?

 O.K. Done a spell-check? Sure.
   A quick read through? Yes.
   Ready to submit? No!

   Now the first rush of blood is over, it is time to stand back and take a long look.    First at the written article/story/manuscript, then at yourself.
   In point of fact, far too many Submissions are put forward without the most basic scrutiny by the most important person at the time. You.
   Fine. You are a young person, or someone older, ready to try your hand at writing. And you are in a hurry to 'get it out there.'

   Nothing wrong with that.
But let's 'get it out there' without the thing looking like a hasty mish-mash of spelling errors, repeated words and poor syntax.

   'Try.'
   Such a simple four letter word. (O.K, I lied. it's a three letter word. Just as 'O.K' is also a four letter word. 'Okay.'  How do I know that?)
   I tried. (now it's a five letter word)
I looked it up. Where? Spell-check? No, though there might be information to be gained that way. But not enough.
   A Thesaurus? Another very useful tool. Especially if you have a good one.
It can give you a variety of substitute words to fill that elusive void, and so too can a book on synonyms and antonyms and even homonyms. (Phew, I'm out of breath.)
   But there is an old and very faithful friend. (Drumroll.)
   'The dictionary.' (Triangle tinkle!)

   Bit of a let-down?
   No way. This is your own personal Entrance Door to Language and its ever-changing meaning.
   Got an ancient dictionary? Don't throw it out!
   Just get a new, up to date one. They'll cosy up together. And between them, will give you a broad spectrum of what once was, and what now is.

   If you want to write, and ache inside with that passion, then you are going to have to learn to love language. In other words, 'words.'
   The language you speak, the way you communicate in your own personal family/business/social/cultural world is all of that.
   As it is when you write.
   And where can you find information on a whole gang of words?
 
   A Dictionary can be a place to simply check spelling.
   But, it can be more!
   It can be a Thesaurus, if you are prepared to read and follow the prompts. Not only written prompts, but your own gut-feeling prompts that send you searching through this vast reference collection.
It can also be an Encyclopedia. Just check out all the extra information a good dictionary adds to the meaning of each word.
   And on top of that, a dictionary makes better reading than a telephone book. (Sure, the phone book has a bigger cast, but the dictionary is more informative.)
And if you like a dictionary, and it likes you, an important requisite (is that the way it's spelled-I'll have to check in the di...)
then all things are possible.
   New words leap out at you, expanding your vocabulary, giving you a greater impact in your writing, enlarging the dictionary of your mind.

   Words and language on the whole, are gob-smacking.
   Think of a mind that can produce Coca-Cola, (1887.) Now go and check out what those two words originally meant. (did you know that 'cola' is also the plural of 'colon.')
   Any word you can think of, in your language, is to be found in a Dictionary.
'Dictionary.' I wonder what the word means. Better look it up.
   'A book dealing with the words of a language, so as to set forth their orthography, pronunciation, signification, and use, their synonyms, derivation, and history, or at least some of these.'

   J.R.R. Tolkien worked, in a team, on one letter of the Oxford English Dictionary. Remember? The author who penned 'Lord of the Rings.'
   But C.T. Onions was the 'Main Man' on the Oxford Dictionary.
   And did he know his onions!

   Tolkien, was a 'philologist' of standing. Look it up. Don't be lazy and guess or just ignore. You do want to write? Then, O.K. (originally initials of 'Old Kinderhook' U.S. Near Albany.) Borrow or buy a Webster's or an Oxford. Have it on a side table next to your keyboard. I know, a dictionary is heavy artillery, but it's chock full of ammunition. Takes too long to look things up. It's too heavy to lug around or even lift? Piffle. Learn patience and grow muscles.

   'Thiy were going to threw him into goal.' Spell-check would pick up 'Thiy' but 'threw' instead of throw? And 'goal'? What if he isn't playing sport? What if he is about to become a prisoner?
   Goal-gaol, jail. Both forms are correct, yet goal and gaol mean two different things.

'TRY' A DICTIONARY.
   I love a dictionary. Breakfast of champions.
   An Encyclopedia of words.
Yes, the words you require to join up the dots that will make your writing better, and will make you a better person.

   Speaking of the Encyclopedia...Darn!
Ran out of time...

 

by Rais Neza Boneza