Through the eyes of a Foreigner
By Andrew Engel
A Letter to Kristelle
If you want an example of excellence in writing, check out Kristelle Omar’s piece, “Realizations”, in the Mindanao Times Opinion section on Saturday July 30. You can get it in the archives section of the web site if you missed it or don’t have a copy of the paper.
When we talk about a writer needing to find their voice, we mean simply that a writer must find their style. It’s the tone they wish to set, the mood they seek to create in the reader’s mind. It’s also about being true to oneself, honest and unique. The best writers do this with such ease that one can do no more than stand back and marvel.
Kristelle’s voice rings loud and clear in her article. You are immediately transported into her world, her fears are real, the experience resonates, we empathise, her honesty is palpable and the words drip with feeling.
Depending on your perspective or your age the article will send different signals and for me one was amusement over her self-doubts in the face of such a powerful specimen of writing.
If this is an example of her skills, she has nothing to be concerned about.
I found myself shedding my years in a time machine back to my own youth. Recalling the stumbling attempts at speech making, embarrassed by recollections of faux pas and idiotic statements, over used clichés and generally no ideas about how the world really worked.
I also recall that I was so stupid I actually thought I knew most things and it took several more years before I started to realise that I was a suitcase short of anything approaching knowledge, let alone wisdom.
Fortunately, here I am washed up on the shore of old age, but still capable of being taken back by a young writer to feel what youth was like, however embarrassing some of the recollections are. That’s the definition of good writing.
And writing doesn’t need to be lofty and high-brow to be good. Indeed, writing from the heart in a simple but effective style often makes for much better reading. Look at the way self-assessment is handled in the following sentence from Kristelle’s article. It conveys the sense of a young woman who not only sees faults in herself but is confident enough to write about them:
“Take, for instance, the fact that I can’t play an instrument, or ride a bike, even snap my fingers”.
It’s the choice here that works, not everyone can play an instrument, or ride a bike, but everyone can snap their fingers, can’t they? Actually, no they can’t when you think about it and it’s the counterpoint between the examples that works in this sentence. It’s what makes it so good.
I’m aware that Filipinos are sometimes a bit hesitant when it comes to communication in English. My advice is don’t be and don’t get overwhelmed by what seems better, more wordy, a wider vocabulary, better grammar. These things can help, but nothing trumps good honest writing.
I am sure that there are plenty of Kristelle’s out there, aspiring writers or journalists and I don’t mean to blow her trumpet too loud, if you will excuse the clumsy metaphor. It’s more that I see the real value in promoting youth and recognising the contribution they can make to our society.
I am reminded that a person from the baby boomer generation can just as easily be educated by a Y generation as the other way around. Something we “oldies” too easily forget and that gives lie to the attitude that youth is wasted on the young.
As for speech making, I will recount for Kristelle a survey conducted in the US several years ago about people’s greatest fears. The question posed to over 10,000 people was to list their greatest fear in descending order from 10 to 1. Number 2 on the list, the second greatest fear, was death. Top of the list at number 1, was the fear of public speaking!
So be brave and know that for most of us the anticipation of having to address a crowd strikes fear into our hearts. Most of us we would rather stick a fork in our eye than speak in public.
Fowler, the English grammarian once wrote that: “what you don’t precisely know you can’t precisely write and what you can’t precisely write you don’t precisely know”.
I’ve always found that to be good advice and it also works if you are confronting a public speaking engagement. I hope that helps you as much as your article taught me.
(Comment or write to Andrew at engelmint@hotmail.com)
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