Sunday, May 9, 2010

Think without writing; write without thinking

Although one can think without writing (and) one can write without thinking, these are not, ultimately, separate activities. I am not much impressed when a student tells me that he has thought A+ thoughts but has written them in C- language. We do not think wordlessly and later put our thoughts into words. Language is a medium of thought as well as of expression; we think in and with words, just as we speak and write with words. In short, I believe that muddy writing is, more often than not, a symptom of muddy thinking. If I cannot say clearly what I want to say, I probably haven‘t thought it out clearly. Taking the time to think can do wonders for our writing.

—Inis L. Claude, Jr.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Captain Lambert,

I never really learned the art of writing, but that was not for lack of trying, or studying, or meditating over the words, and thoughts, that I was attempting to present. The good Inis L Claude, Jr. has given the answer to the world’s great problems as near as I can determine. I am not evidently the learned individual that he is, but I do attempt to apply some words to paper on occasion and I attempt to give it much thought, as well.

I only have a question or so for the Professor; shouldn’t (I am not much impressed), which sounds wordy to this untuned ear be changed to say (I am unimpressed). Another point is the sentence “If I cannot say clearly what I want to say, I probably haven‘t thought it out clearly.” This wording seems to me to be the use of a double negative. I do not know, I am only the student, but this is what I would have written. “If I cannot say clearly what I want to say, I should attempt to rethink what I am trying to say to make it clearer”.

Very Respectfully,
Navyman834