For the Love of Words; Sailing into the Vast Ocean of Words -and a Giveaway-

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Isn’t it just amazing how God created everything with the power of His Word? It just blows my mind. And it amazes me how God gave us the gift of language, a way to communicate one to another, words to create, to give life (not in the sense like He does, of course), to bless -or curse-. And not only that but He, in His mercy, gave us a wonderful brain that can learn new languages. That, my friends, is pretty awesome!

So, I have decided to take advantage of this God-given gift and learn more about how to use English words -and sentences, and paragraphs, and commas, and all that- better. Yes, and you will be benefited too, I hope, as you find my writing getting clearer and cleaner 🙂

English is my second language, (I am sure you already knew -or by this time figured- that out. ) but sometimes I just doubt if I am really fluent. Specially when reading Chesterton. So, my friends, here I am, ready to sail into the vast Ocean of Words; and of course, I will be taking you with me, I am sure the adventure will be fun and profitable. I will be posting in this place quotes, rules, new words, and things like that; if you don’t want to come along, it’s OK, I will love you still.

The first book that stirred my soul into this adventure is one that I dare to say will be one of my favorite books in 2012: Wordsmithy: Hot Tips for the Writing Life by Douglas Wilson. The book is excellent; full of practical advice, encouragement and great quotes to keep in a commonplace notebook (so that you won’t forget, and use later).

See more about this book here.

A few of my favorite quotes are these:

“Pay attention to all the words you use every day -especially the words that are coming out of your mouth.” (p.22)

“If you want to say a lot, you need to have a lot to say” (p.24)

“Writing is a form of teaching, even when it is not being didactic in some formal kind of way. And the most contagious form of teaching is when an instructor loves his material in the presence of others -whom he also loves.” (p.26)

“Love what you observe, love what you write, and love those who read it.” (p.27)

“Wanting to write without reading is like wanting to grind flour without gathering wheat, like wanting to make boards without logging, and like wanting to have a Mississippi Delta without any tributaries somewhere in Minnesota. Output requires intake, and literary output requires literary intake.” (p.30)

“Read like someone who can afford to forget most of what you read. It does not matter because you are still going to be shaped by it.” (p.37)

“Set a lifetime pattern of reading books” (p.42)

“Read boring books on writing mechanics” (p.50)

“Dictionaries are books. Why can’t we read them?” (p.53)

“We {Christians} are people of the Word, and therefore we are people of words. Because we are people of words, we may, later on, be people of essays, poems, blog posts, screenplays, and novels.” (p.78)

“Love what you observe, love what you write, and love those who read it.” (p.79)

“God blesses giving, so every use of language, down to the lowliest tweet, ought to be thought as a gift to others. But when we give, we do not run out of what we are giving. If we are giving language that is thought through, language that is edifying, that is calculated to bless the other, then what on earth makes us think that God would let us run out?” (p.84)

“Your commonplace book is just a staging area. You are collecting things in order use them, to get them into your mind and heart and thence your writing.” (p.115)

“The world of actual language use is so complex and so messy that only God understands the English language. Only God is fluent.”

This book is so good, and I am so excited about this journey that I just can’t keep all this goodness for myself, after all, as one wise fellow said, “Writing is not solo work”. If you love words and sentences, and commonplace books, and want to sail with me into the vast Ocean of Words, then leave a comment here and I will enter your name in the giveaway of one copy of this book. (Feel free to share the news with your friends). I will announce the winner, God willing,  Tuesday, January 24.

Becky

31 thoughts on “For the Love of Words; Sailing into the Vast Ocean of Words -and a Giveaway-”

  12. I love words too, so please enter me also 🙂 “Only God understands the English language” 🙂 That's my excuse 😉

    Becky – this quote is true of what you are doing here on your blog: “Love what you observe, love what you write, and love those who read it.”

    E – I'm tucking away the quote your husband shared in my heart.

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  22. Please enter me too, Becky. Would love to read that book, for it sounds wonderful. Encouraged by how we are to write with love to those one is teaching (p. 26) and to those who are reading what you write (p. 27 and 79). Words have such a rippled effect.

    Hugs,
    Christina

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  24. I usually just slip in quietly and read your blog, which I find tremendous inspiration from almost daily! I am amazed that English is not your first language… you do have a gift with the pen.

    One of my goals this year is to be more engaged in what I say, do, read and write… all too often I find myself half way between what I am doing and where I am going.

    (1 Corinthians 10:31)

    grace and peace,
    Suzanne

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  26. Please enter me, Becky.

    This book has been on my list after reading about it at Kim's and Corey's blogs. I love words, word origins, and am always looking for ways to improve my writing.

    Thanks so much!

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  27. Kim, I remember you mentioning on Twitter how much you enjoyed this book 🙂

    Leslie, thanks for coming along <3

    Trisha, Ink is a Wordsmithy; I can't wait to see the day we'll get to read his first published book!

    E, You already know, you are one of the persons who has inspired me to love, love, love words, and I am SO GRATEFUL for that!

    Love the quote you shared, I will jot it down in my commonplace book, in which, by the way, I have many quotes of what you've said, my friend 🙂

    Love you all!

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