Empty Page

Image via Wikipedia (if I were a woman I might look kind of like this)         As I open up this empty page, I do so without any real idea of what to write about.  Then as I ponder the possibilities I start to wonder--what do the people who happen upon my blog want to find?  I consider what I look for when I'm surfing through the blogosphere.  There are a heck of a lot of blogs and a ton of different topics.  What am I looking for in blogs?

         Information:  I like to find interesting facts.  Facts about places, people, and things.  Ephemera.  Hard truth.  Behind the scenes stories.  If it looks like I might learn something, I might hang around a blog for a while.

          Style:  Simplicity, that can be convoluted and deep in thinking, but presented for a dummy like me.  Expanding my vocabulary is fine, but if I have to stumble over too many words the reading might get tedious for me.  Likewise, if it sounds like a blogger is writing like a professor writes for academia, then it might become too much for me, especially if it's a long piece.  If it has footnotes I'm fairly sure that I'm in the wrong place.

         Quirkiness;  There are some blogs that are really weird in content, but it's an intelligent weirdness.  Other blogs shine in the delivery of humor, visual art, or entertaining literary devices.  Keep it short though.  In  blogging--especially the type of rapid social blogging as occurs in a blogging event like the A to Z Challenge--we'll read your book at another time.   Right now, don't bother me--I'm blogging.

          Friendliness:  Some blogs are so inviting.   It's easy to get to know the blogger and ties are established. Those are the blogs I visit repeatedly.  I may not visit every day or even every week, but I know who you are and you'll see me on occasion and I'll see you.  The community of bloggers is so cool.

          So I filled the page with my wondering about what the best thing to fill blog pages with is.  What do you look for in blogs?   Which one of these or other categories does your blog most fit into?  How would you describe Tossing It Out (that's the blog you're reading now in case you weren't looking)?   What would you like to see more of on this blog?  What things on this blog have you liked the least (be honest!)?

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What Did You Say?

         Do you like to use impressive words or would you rather impress with your use of words? 

          I've always enjoyed building my vocabulary with interesting new words.  One of my favorite Reader's Digest features is the one about building one's vocabulary.  Spelling and vocabulary were two of my favorite subjects in school.  Like many of you, I like to have a good knowledge of words and to be sure that I am using the best and most correct words when I am writing.  However, I do find it somewhat annoying when I have to continually refer to a dictionary when I am reading.

         The average reading level of adults in the United States is typically cited as being somewhere between sixth and ninth grade, depending on what source is citing the statistic.  It's probably safe to say that the typical newspaper or popular magazine is pretty representative of the reading level of the average American.  Many, probably most, modern fiction books are written at a level that is easily understandable to the average middle school student.  

         Just the other day I was reading an excerpt of a scholarly treatise on a philosophical topic.  As I read--or tried to read--I couldn't help but shake my head in amazement at the lack of clarity due to the author's usage of obscure terminology.  This author was probably writing for a very specific audience that may have been very familiar with the terms, but as a layman I was not impressed.  This approach is common in academic writing, but could it be done better?

          Okay, bad example--academia is a world unto itself.  But thinking about literature or popular fiction, can an author capture a large readership with the appeal of large or uncommonly used words?   In the nineteenth century, many of the authors deemed as "the greats" seemed to be able to write in a more educated sounding style probably because their audiences were often more educated.   Later as the printed media began to reach a broader audience, the style and vocabulary became simpler.

         I don't have much of a problem with this "dumbing down" of literature because I want to read more quickly without having to stop to figure out what I've just read.   I'm more interested in straight-forward creative writing that gets the point across quickly and uniquely,  I'll take an uncommon metaphor or a precisely detailed description as long as it doesn't bog down my reading, unless I'm reading some artsy piece which I am expecting to bog me down.  There's nothing quite as bad as reading a fast paced action scene and having to stop to look up a word--give it to me straight and simple.

         That's the way I try to write.  Sure, I might throw in a more uncommonly used word now and then, but I try to do it in slow paced sections where thought is required anyway.  Pedantic language is good for pacing. When you want the flow to go, go, go then terse stacatto and fluid phrasing makes the read move with the action you are trying to depict. 

           Not many of the writers who are reading this are trying to write scholarly tomes.  If you are, I hope you receive a grant to pay your way.  If you try to write over the heads of your potential audience to show them how brilliant you are, then you may find that your audience will be very limited.  Most of the reading audience is not looking to be dazzled by erudition, but to be entertained by good writing that provides them with a rewarding experience of story and message.

          "My aim is to put down on paper what I see and what I feel in the best and simplest way."     — Ernest Hemingway  

               
         What's your take on this?   Do you make an extra effort to add more obscure or less often used vocabulary to your writing?    How would you classify your style of writing?   Who are some of the writers you admire the most?