A Post About Writing

Writing. I dread it and I love it. “How can that be?”, you ask. Easy: I love it when I can express something in exactly the way I want to, and I dread it because this does not happen too often. Combine that with the fact that English is my third language, and you can see why I am so conflicted about writing.

My children, who are 20 and 22, are wonderful writers. They have an enormous vocabulary, and their sentences flow beautifully. They sound so smart, for their arguments are detailed and concise and they know how to get their points across with the fewest possible words.  They have an arsenal of words at their disposal that they can use at the most opportune times.  Their writings are well thought out and elegant. They make writing look so easy!

Then there is me. I stumble and trip as I write. I struggle to find the right words to express my opinion, which frustrates me to no end, for I love words! I love how one word can encompass so much.  For example, the word ‘elaborate’: with this one word I can describe something that is full of detail, and meticulously constructed.  One word. Or the word ‘grief’, which describes such depths of despair and pain, that it seems like the word is not long enough to describe so much.  I love that about words!  That is why word choices mean so much in my writing.

Then there is sentence construction. My sentences are choppy and simple.  There is nothing elegant about my writing. When I was in High School in the Netherlands, we were taught English. But what we weren’t taught was how to use the punctuation in English. So up until four years ago I was still under the impression that punctuation in both languages was the same. But it isn’t. This trips me up big time! I still struggle to find the right places to put the commas, the colon, and the semi-colon. I do not think this is an area where I will ever feel comfortable.

When I started my college career, at 47, it was my son who helped me the most. Not only did he help me with Math, but with English as well.  It was Greg who taught me what topic sentences were, or that the thesis sentence appears in the first paragraph, not in the last. He also taught me to be specific, and to watch out for using too many words, when only a few will do.

I will never be able to write like him, but I am starting to feel comfortable with my own style. I give my writings a lot of thought, I am honest, direct, and simple. I think I do get my point across, although not as eloquently as I would like. I have come a long way in four years, and I hope to continue this journey of growth.