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All That Jazz

11/8/2007

1 Comment

 
Posted by BJ
I was discussing writing with Jen, one of our newest Associates at Strategic Proposals, recently. As we each highlighted the reasons we enjoyed working with words we almost simultaneously said, “It’s just like music.
​We went on to discuss how both writing and music when done well, have a rhythm, a beat and can be presented/played in a variety of ways.

I was thinking about this today as I was driving (when my mind tends to not be on the road but rather wanders hither and yon at will). And what came to mind were several phrases, all of which, on the surface anyway, would seem to mean the same thing. And yet, like the sharps and flats in music, present the idea with different tones and evoke different emotions and reactions.
​
I offer the following “variations on theme”:
“This is worth…
…thinking about.”
…considering.”
…reflecting upon.”
…pondering.”

And I’d guess a few ‘variations’ might come to mind for you as you read this.

​It’s the seemingly endless possible variations that makes writing so rich, and at the same time, often quite frustrating.
1 Comment
Jeff Elkins
3/26/2016 04:43:42 am

I love this blog – so timely! I had a bass instructor many years ago that pushed me to think out of the box, and when I was building a bass line from the chord charts he would say, “There’s no reason to reuse notes in that bar! Find another tone for that spot.” If I REALLY wanted to get yelled at, I’d put two of the same notes NEXT to each other…

I was editing a document last night and I thought of that lesson. In three sentences I had used “This [document]” three times, “[will be] modified” twice, and “to reflect [the change]” twice. Your blog nailed it: While I may have written what I intended the reader to glean, it had zero rhythm!

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