Due to vacations and the fall semester starting and the planets aligning – or not aligning as the case may be – I had to work today on a Sunday, something I haven’t had to do in years. I am a bit discombobulated, the schedule of my usual goings on all tossed overboard. On the plus side, I will get to have Friday off, something I never get to do unless it is a holiday or I take a vacation day which means since September 3rd is a holiday I will have a 4-day weekend next weekend to compensate for the one-day weekend I had this weekend. And I am rambling on merrily – see what happens when I get thrown off my usual?
At any rate, I did manage some reading this weekend on Saturday but none today. And since I am not at home at the moment, typing this at a very quiet library circulation desk (shh, don’t tell anyone!), I cannot post about Lolita which I finished last week. It will have to wait. No, today all I can do is ramble and now point you to a marvelous letter written by C.S. Lewis to a young fan in Florida, USA in 1956. What a generous and kind man he is in his letter. The girl must have sent him something she wrote and asked for writing advice. Here is his general advice:
1. Always try to use the language so as to make quite clear what you mean and make sure your sentence couldn’t mean anything else.
2. Always prefer the plain direct word to the long, vague one. Don’t implement promises, but keep them.
3. Never use abstract nouns when concrete ones will do. If you mean “More people died” don’t say “Mortality rose.”
4. In writing. Don’t use adjectives which merely tell us how you want us to feel about the thing you are describing. I mean, instead of telling us a thing was “terrible,” describe it so that we’ll be terrified. Don’t say it was “delightful”; make us say “delightful” when we’ve read the description. You see, all those words (horrifying, wonderful, hideous, exquisite) are only like saying to your readers, “Please will you do my job for me.”
5. Don’t use words too big for the subject. Don’t say “infinitely” when you mean “very”; otherwise you’ll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite
Good advice for any writer of any age. Pop over to Letters of Note to read the entire letter.
And now I shall cease my rambling and get back to doing actual library work. As you were!
Oh, I do envy you your upcoming four-day weekend… mine will only be three!
And such great advice from dear C.S. Lewis. I am a real aficionado of “Jack”. I even named my cat after him — and have an entire two shelves of a book-case devoted to Lewisania.
His book “An Experiment In Criticism” is one of the best books I have ever read, about writing. It is chockfull of lovely stuff like he was writing to this correspondent here.
I once wrote of it:
http://bookpuddle.blogspot.ca/2008/06/experiment-in-criticism.html
Cipriana, thanks for the reminder about An Experiment in Criticism! I must get around to reading that. I didn’t realize Lewis was called Jack and that your Jack was named for him. Excellent! As for Lolita, I will give you a hint: I liked it
Excellent advice! I’ve been coaching my daughter on her writing for school recently and I think printing these out might be a good idea for her!
Jane, simple advice but so hard to follow!
P.S. — Can’t wait to hear your words about Lolita.
A book a reader either loves, or hates. [I am of the former opinion...]
Excellent advice from C.S. Lewis indeed, and thanks for the link to his letter, he sounds like a very kind and helpful mentor. What a rare personality. I’ve read some of his books, and am particularly moved by the film about him and Joy Gresham, Shadowlands, filtered thru Anthony Hopkins though.
Arti, I thought it excellent advice too. He does seem a rare personality as you phrase it. I must see Shadowlands one of these days. I had forgotten about that movie. Thanks for the reminder!
I constantly battle against corporate speak and try to teach people along the lines of Lewis’s point number 2:
Always prefer the plain direct word to the long, vague one. Don’t implement promises, but keep them.
But he says it so much more succinctly than I manage so shall be quoting him extensively from now on. Thanks so much for this treasure trove
It is good advice and given in such generous spirit. CS Lewis is a writer I have mixed feelings about. Never got along with his SF novels and only half liked the Narnia books. His religious books (Problem Of Pain, Mere Christianity etc) are very well done – serious but highly readable though I remain solidly agnostic. He was a brilliant literary critic with an incredible depth and width of learning. Lewis is like a sort of Christian Orwell both in the plain, clear style but in that you can dip into his works ( including essays and letters) and educate yourself even if, especially if you can disagree with him.
Ian, a Christian Orwell, nicely put. I never read Narnia when I was a kid and only the first one about five years ago. Coming to it as an adult it was fun but lacked a certain magic. I have read Til We Have Faces, a retelling of the Cupid and Psyche myth and liked it very much. Haven’t gotten to his SF yet but I mean to give it try one of these days. I’m not Christian but, as you say, he is one of those writers who are educational even when you disagree with him. And that’s worth something.
kheenand, point number 2 is a good one that many fail at thinking the longer, fancier word will make them sound smarter or more important. I have a coworker who writes the most convoluted sentences because she thinks they make her sound more professional. Ugh. Good luck in your battle to spread the word!
I adore his 4th and 5th points (can I say adore? is that okay? is it too much? — nope, I definitely adore them). CS Lewis is one of those authors I love to return to every few years to see what I’ll learn from him the next time through that I didn’t learn before.
Nikki, oh yes they are good aren’t they? I like the way he puts #4, a much better and more interesting version of “show don’t tell.”
That’s very good advice, and I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on Lollta. Plus, four day weekends are fab. We are on a three day one here, which is pretty good too!
Litlove, Lolita coming soon. I hope you enjoyed your 3-day weekend!
Working on weekends is no fun. I get to work on weekends quite often and I feel like I’m always thrown for a loop too. Thank goodness you have that 4 day weekend coming up – yay.
I like the advice, especially #2
Iliana, my husband has a variable schedule so he often gets one weekend day off and then another day during the week. He’s used to it so I feel bad about complaining. But I haven’t had to work a weekend day in nearly 4 years so it had me all goofed up! #2 is good, isn’t it? I like Lewis’ advice much better than Strunk & White
I like this advice, and it reminds me very much of George Orwell’s essay on writing where we gives similar guidelines. It’s all about making sure your ideas are clear and that you are actually saying something meaningful. It’s amazing how words can be used to say hardly anything at all
Rebecca, yes, oh I love that Orwell essay! And you are so right, it is amazing how words can be used to say hardly anything, the presidential campaign and a prime example of that right now!
Wise advice–I may have to cut and paste it somewhere handy! I especially like #4. I guess that would be showing and not just telling. Lucky you to have a four day weekend–enjoy! And whenever my schedule is off I get all out of whack, too. I’m looking forward to September being a regular sort of month where I can get lots accomplished (unlike August!).
Danielle, isn’t it good advice? Now if only I had room to frame it and put it above my desk!
I think I am going to print it out and frame it. Excellent advice for writers. Thanks so much for sharing it with us, Stefanie! I always need things like this to remind me that less is better, and clearer best of all, to get out of the way of the story/essay/thesis, and let the work speak for itself.
Susan, I agree that Lewis’s advice is most excellent! Easy to understand but so hard to do, eh? At least for me. Always glad to share gems I find.
Very good advice indeed! Thanks for sharing.