This blog may be the hardest one for me to write now that I am currently very keenly aware of my own tendency to meander into the language trap that George Orwell speaks of in his essay. In fact, I mindlessly began this post with a “not-un-formation” (As a student I am not unfamiliar…) but caught myself before I could complete the despicable sentence. I am shocked by how much this modern English has permeated my writing, but then again I have had years of practice regurgitating phrases that I think sound intelligent. These “ready-made” phrases have allowed me to cook up in a matter of minutes, essays that should have taken hours of preparation. I was able to justify the tasteless concoctions produced with the excuse that I was simply not interested in the subject matter so they were somehow severed from my identity as a writer. I now realize that this lazy habit of Easy-Bake Writing left its insidious mark.
I not only allowed for it to happen but took pride in the fact that I could fill up a whole page with print and not once have to engage my brain. Making it to two pages was even better; for a five page research paper on atomic bonding that would mean just three pages of actual research. I’m guilty of it all: dying metaphors, pretentious diction, meaningless words, and my personal favorite, operators. I recall literally perusing my papers for opportunities to turn verbs into operators in order to meet a word count. This language was more prevalent in my science papers, probably because I thought I had to use “scientific words”. Contrastingly, when I wrote a ten page research paper on “Moral Decadence in The Picture of Dorian Gray” for British Literature I spent hours trying to perfect my own personal masterpiece because I was writing for pleasure and not for the grade.
However, the problem with disassociating writing for pleasure and obligatory writing is that there is no such distinction in the mind. All words and phrases, both sincere and “slovenly”, conglomerate inside the kitchen-sink of our brain. When you actually want to be sincere there is now a barrier you must surpass. “An accumulation of stale phrases chokes [you] like tea leaves blocking a sink”, as Orwell would put it. At this point it is no longer you constructing words or thoughts. The phrases muddle your meaning until you are so confused that you forget what it is you were trying to convey to begin with. I can relate to this suffocating experience. I am quite fond of poetry and song lyrics, but whenever I attempt to write down sincere thoughts on paper a mob of horrendously cliché phrases lays siege to my brain. Under this influence the products of my creative effort almost never retain their integrity. I only find myself producing the same kitsch over and over again in slightly differing variations. Just like the little half baked cupcakes I would cook in minutes with my Easy-Bake oven when I was little, I produce doughy, tasteless excuses for writing when I don’t consciously force myself to think.
I like the analogy to the easy-bake oven. Writing does tend to lean toward cookie cutter language rather than an original recipe. I'm glad the article provoked you toward self-reflection. It had the same effect on me.
ReplyDeleteI Have never looked at the brain like a kitchen sink, but I have to agree that this analogy is fitting. I know that I am at fault for doing all the things that Orwell stated. I also know that when I write or even say things, it does not come out clearly or its to complicated. Those doughy writings you speak of are everywhere (At least I think). It is like an oven exploded and splattered the words on every wall. It is all because the human race just tries to copy what they think is the best thing or what sounds good when it is the worst.
ReplyDeleteI want to write a few paragraphs about how well-written this post is, but I should probably give an actual response.
ReplyDeleteWhile I never had an Easy-Bake Oven, the metaphor still rings true. It's almost like cheating when using such lazy writing. You're taking the writings of someone else and essentially copy and pasting it for your own nefarious deeds. Taking these other, overused works, sticking them in your Easy-Bake Oven of lazy writing, and pulling out a big plate of terrible Copypasta.
I think we're all, as writers, guilty of sometimes relying on the cliche' for effect and hopefully it's something that can be easily weeded out.