On Passionate Writing: Conversation

The real art of conversation

is not only to say the right thing at the right time,

but also to leave unsaid the wrong thing

at the tempting moment.

How true!

It's so easy to say what we think--or not think.
Those of us who are "chatter boxes," rattle on and on,
sometimes not realizing how boring, how irritating
our constant speech
about our life, our problems, our ideas
can be.

Sometimes we say hurtful things, meaning to
or not.
But is it because we talk too much?
Is it because we're too thoughtless?

When someone insults us
or cuts us off
or betrays us
or whatever.

How do we respond?
How do we react?

Prayer is the key.
Ask God to guard our lips and our tongue.
To say only what he would have us to say

It could possibly be the hardest thing we've been called to do.
The Bible cautions us to guard our tongue.
To not wound
To keep the peace
To encourage
To uplift.

In so doing, we've climbed that ladder to heaven
just a bit higher!

Blessings!

Tongue in the Cheek Tips

Gotta say, the list is perfect for wannebe writers. The last on the list is a lot of fun put together by fellow writer Sam after a pompous wannbe writer decided to pester an excellent agent for representation. Some of us learned a lot from her/his pompous knowledge. Smile. Enjoy and take what you can use!

Mr. Greatest-writer-since-the-Gutenber-Press thought he(she) had a thing or two to teach (agent). Actually, I learned some things from him, though not in the way he intended.

1. Have a teachable attitude.
2. Be humble
3. The rules apply to you. Really.
4. Don't attempt to intimidate somone just to get your way.
5. Use appropriate self-promotion.
6. Don't take yourself too seriously.
7. And when writing, do not use big words and long sentences just to impress the reader because most of the time, the usage of extraeous, redundant, and multisyllabic verbiage; long protracted sentences; undefined acronyms; and passive voice often confuses (that is, befuddles [confounds]) the reader, thereby inhibiting communication; furthermore, the greater the length and complexity of the sentence, the easier it is to make an error in punctuation or grammar, it is therefore recommended to writer shorter sentences to facilitate improved communication as this will prevent the reader from getting the impression that you're a pompous know-it-all.

Ah, so right, Sam. Thank you for putting it so succinctly!


Quote:
We are all pencils in the hand of a writing God who is sending love letters to the world. --Mother Teresa
Blessings!