Verbosity
I’ve noticed my e-mails are usually far more wordy than responses I get; this includes my own responses.
There are exceptions.
A guy I graduated college with, who lives in Ottawa, usually cranks out more than me, which I find pleasant.
Another guy I graduated college with, who lives in MA, cranks out quite a bit. I find myself hoping for his e-mails.
Both majored in English. Does that mean something?
Most responses I get are only a sentence, perhaps only five words. I even got an e-mail of only one word, “Do,” regarding my 50-year college reunion blog.
I’ve decided my wordiness is because of my stroke 22&1/2 years ago — the slight aphasia I have.
It doesn’t affect my writing, just my ability to find words for speech — my ability to carry on a conversation.
Perhaps the greatest joy after my stroke was finding I could still write — what I call word-slingin’.
My observation and deadpan reporting of life’s insanities was unaffected.
What’s difficult are phonecalls: hesitation and stony silences, sometimes even stuttering.
I’ve had people get angry when I can’t get words out.
I tell people I phonecall I had a stroke, and may have difficulty getting words out. I may even lock up.
So writing has become more an outlet than it was before my stroke — when I could sling words fairly well.
And having done it the past 22 years, I’ve fine-tuned my word-slingin’.
Having worked at a newspaper, I find myself limiting word-usage, cutting out unneeded words.
“You talk just fine,” people say. “Look at your blogs.”
“Yeah,” I say. “But that’s writing. That ain’t speech.”
• The newspaper I worked at was the Canandaigua Daily-Messenger, from where I retired over ten years ago. Best job I ever had — I worked there almost 10 years (over 11 if you count my time as a post-stroke unpaid intern [I had a stroke October 26, 1993, from which I recovered fairly well]). (“Canandaigua” [“cannan-DAY-gwuh”] is a small city nearby where I live in Western NY. The city is also within a rural town called “Canandaigua.” The name is Indian, and means “Chosen Spot.” —It’s about 14 miles away.)
There are exceptions.
A guy I graduated college with, who lives in Ottawa, usually cranks out more than me, which I find pleasant.
Another guy I graduated college with, who lives in MA, cranks out quite a bit. I find myself hoping for his e-mails.
Both majored in English. Does that mean something?
Most responses I get are only a sentence, perhaps only five words. I even got an e-mail of only one word, “Do,” regarding my 50-year college reunion blog.
I’ve decided my wordiness is because of my stroke 22&1/2 years ago — the slight aphasia I have.
It doesn’t affect my writing, just my ability to find words for speech — my ability to carry on a conversation.
Perhaps the greatest joy after my stroke was finding I could still write — what I call word-slingin’.
My observation and deadpan reporting of life’s insanities was unaffected.
What’s difficult are phonecalls: hesitation and stony silences, sometimes even stuttering.
I’ve had people get angry when I can’t get words out.
I tell people I phonecall I had a stroke, and may have difficulty getting words out. I may even lock up.
So writing has become more an outlet than it was before my stroke — when I could sling words fairly well.
And having done it the past 22 years, I’ve fine-tuned my word-slingin’.
Having worked at a newspaper, I find myself limiting word-usage, cutting out unneeded words.
“You talk just fine,” people say. “Look at your blogs.”
“Yeah,” I say. “But that’s writing. That ain’t speech.”
• The newspaper I worked at was the Canandaigua Daily-Messenger, from where I retired over ten years ago. Best job I ever had — I worked there almost 10 years (over 11 if you count my time as a post-stroke unpaid intern [I had a stroke October 26, 1993, from which I recovered fairly well]). (“Canandaigua” [“cannan-DAY-gwuh”] is a small city nearby where I live in Western NY. The city is also within a rural town called “Canandaigua.” The name is Indian, and means “Chosen Spot.” —It’s about 14 miles away.)
posted by BobbaLew at 9:30 AM
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