Sage Advice

Well don't look at me. I don't have any sage advice. But I do know where to find some.

C.S. Lewis is one of my favorite authors, and I'm not just talking Narnia. I was the junior high kid in the back of the bus with my nose shoved into a sci-fi book. Ever read Out of the Silent Planet or Perelandra? Yeah. Good stuff.

But besides fiction, Lewis was proficient with non-fiction. On page 64 of Letters to Children, he offers some great insights into writing...

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 things you are describing. I mean, instead of telling us the thing is "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 really infinite.

Personally, my biggest bugaboo is #1. It's always clear in my head, but on paper, not so much. How about you? Which number do you need to work on?