Writing and words

“The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug” Mark Twain

Good writing, writes itself. It happens when the writer is surprised by what’s been written.

When words come unannounced, at the right time.

Yet, as a writer, one would not set off on the path of writing, were it not for words.

Words remain a necessary but not a sufficient condition to good writing.

What makes good writing, good, are the right words. 

Some writers, like Rushdie use plenty of right words. His is feast of words. It has the same effect of a floodlight. His words Illuminate and dazzle. It feels as though he is making music, painting a picture and administering you a hallucinogenic drug at the same time.   

Others, like Coetzee, prefer the laser beam. Lean, taut, with sudden surprises of generosity, which makes the writing all the more delectable. Too close to the bone, too close for comfort.

Yet, if one were to wait for the right words, nothing would get written. Days would pass in the state of writerly daze.

So, the first step to writing is to write badly, bloatedly, awkwardly. And do it every day.

Then, through practice, the right words will come. Lean in.