write wright right

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Write Wright RightAn exploration into the essence of writing

September 21, 2011

Tim [email protected]

http://www.reachcustomersonline.comhttp://linkedin.com/in/timslavin

(516) 234-0607


18 different ways to write the word red


Words are organized marks on a surface


Words are agreed upon sounds we make


Instead of red, why not dre or rde or erd?


Words are arbitrary, byproducts of social interactions


Now, define the word red


One definition of the word red:

1. any of various colors resembling the color of blood; the primary color at one extreme end of the visible spectrum, an effect of light with a wavelength between 610 and 780 nm.

2. something red.3. ( often initial capital letter ) a radical leftist in politics, esp. a communist.4. Informal . red light ( def. 1 ) .5. Informal . red wine: a glass of red.6. Also called red devil, red bird. Slang . a capsule of the drug secobarbital,

usually red in color.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/red


One word, one set of marks = endless marks that only begin to scratch the meaning of the original word: red


Wait, it gets worse…


Write Wright Right …Three words, three different sets of marks, three

different meanings, but all share one sound(btw it’s called a homophone)


Writing is not about forms: an article, a manual, a poem, a short story, a blog post, an email, a letter


Instead, writers marshal marks on surfaces and sounds in the ear of their readers and listeners


Some marks, some sounds, are better than others:


“You know, if the Germans show up, we’ll probably fight.”


“We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender.”-- Winston Churchill


Rhetoric is the means to marshal marks and sounds …


Anaphora: the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses or lines.


“We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender.”-- Winston Churchill


Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases adds punch. Inspires. Motivates.


There are many rhetorical techniques ...


Chiasmus: the words in one phrase or clause are reversed in the next.


“It's not the men in my life that counts: it's the life in my men.”-- Mae West

“Is man one of God's blunders or God one of man's blunders?”-- Friedrich Nietzsche


Hypophora: one or more questions or objections are asked or stated and then answered.


“But there are only three hundred of us,' you object. Three hundred, yes, but men, but armed, but Spartans, but at Thermoplyae: I have never seen three hundred so numerous.”-- Seneca


Simile: a comparison between two different things that resemble each other.


“Let us go then, you and I, where the evening is spread out across the sky like a patient etherised upon a table.”-- T.S. Eliot


Kenning: multiple words that use images take the place of a single noun.


wound hoe = swordwave’s steed = shipfire-brandisher of blizzard of ogress of protection-moon of steed of boat-shed = warrior

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenning


Rhetoric is the means to marshal marks and sounds …


What is the purpose to marks on paper? To sounds we agree hold one meaning, and not another?


Writing is about change. Perhaps from ignorance to knowledge. Sadness to laughter. Prejudice to empathy.


Writing is about connection between writer and reader.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Rhetorical_techniques

http://www.uky.edu/AS/Classics/rhetoric.html

http://rhetoric.byu.edu/

http://www.speaklikeapro.co.uk/Rhetorical_techniques.htm

http://www.virtualsalt.com/rhetoric.htm


Tim [email protected]

http://www.reachcustomersonline.com

http://linkedin.com/in/timslavin

(516)234-0607