Greetings, Avery!

Welcome to this wondrous writing community. You are certainly off to a fantastic start by populating your port and finding your way around this vast site during the few days you have been among us. I saw this piece featured in this week's Noticing Newbies Newsletter and wanted to congratulate you for gaining such exposure in such a short time. The following observations are offered in the spirit of friendly hospitality and constructive support, but they are nothing more than one person's opinions, so take them or leave them for whatever you think they may be worth.

TITLE:

A name gives your essay a specific identity. It sets the tone and prepares the reader for what is to come. If that entrance does not spark some sort of interest, chances are he or she will move along to the next item, or maybe even the next author.

While the title you have assigned to this piece will surely draw like-minded word junkies into your lair to share a bit of your passion, I doubt that it will attract the random reader looking for something a little more exciting. I believe you could draw a broader audience by adding a bit of zip to the title. Perhaps something like "The Wordsmith's Discipline"?

ORGANIZATION:

Your narrative flows smoothly from your introduction expressing how you feel about this process to your experience over the years and, finally, the conclusion forming an envelope effect by reasserting how much you "love the use of words."

CONTENT:

Every writer has his or her own methods for overcoming writer's block and the free-writing dilemma. I, too, find it difficult to write without editing as I go. My solution is to scribble my first drafts double or triple-spaced on an 8 x 10 lined pad, leaving plenty of room for me to insert alternative words or phrases as they occur to me.

Yes, indeed. Many words have "different meanings," both literally according to the dictionary and emotionally according to how they are perceived. In addition to the precise literal definition found in dictionaries, many words are imbued with shades of emotional interpretation, based on historic or cultural associations. For example, Hollywood and Sacramento are both cities in California, but Hollywood often is used to represent the glitz, glamour, celebrity, and dreams of stardom in the movie industry. "House" and "home" are both defined as "a dwelling place," but "home" carries an additional emotional connection to a sense of comfort, love and family. "Residence," "abode," "apartment," and "lodging" are other words which have basically the same literal application, but have varying implications. Because of usage over time, words with approximately the same definition may acquire additional meanings that are either positive or negative. We may refer to someone who uses drugs as a "substance abuser," "addict," or "junky," reflecting different levels of sympathy. The various feelings, images, and memories that are evoked by a word become its connotation. The relationship between words and meanings can be complicated and is continually shifting, depending on who is speaking or listening. Since specific words spark specific emotional reactions, creative writers often use these connotations to achieve a desired effect.

You have expressed your impressions of this process quite clearly, but I believe you could strengthen your audience's engagement with the experience by replacing some of the abstract generic terminology, such as "words, ideas, and details" and "opportunities," with more specific sensory details.

OVERALL IMPRESSION:

Art happens in two places: in writers' minds as they create it, and in readers' minds as they perceive it. Wordsmiths explore possibilities through a lens colored by past experience and shares them with an unseen audience. They call upon a unique reservoir of such enlightenment, conceptual skill and innovative research to project some spiritual sensation upon the screen of the audience's imagination--be it joy, melancholy, shock, or any of a thousand others.

This is an enjoyable presentation of the writing craft, which could benefit from a little expansion and clarification, in my humble opinion.

Here's wishing you fair winds as you continue to navigate this universe known as Writing.Com.

Let the creativity flow from your soul!
Dave
"The Poet's Place " 
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