A line in a sea shanty by Canadian singer Stan Rogers is:
"Barrett was smashed like a bowl of eggs." Such a statement is hard to
ignore, and it is a testament to writers like Stan, who learned to make
their words sing. This is another of my favorites, an article written by
Pete McBride:
"Hunched in a dory, dropping into one of the most storied rapids of the world's grandest canyon, I'm surprised by all that I hear. The crash of water echoes off the granite walls around me, but so do much smaller noises: the creak of the boat's wood hull, the squeak of the oars, the call of a nearby canyon wren. Maybe the adrenaline crashing through my veins has honed my senses, or maybe it's sleeping on the banks of the Colorado River under a silent spray of stars."
I think that everyone who takes the time to compose and write a story wants to tell that story in a compelling way. But, when you begin to hone your craft as a writer, you can disappoint yourself, plus if others read your writing, they can disappoint you even more! Undoubtedly, an advantage accrues to those who are born with the talent to write. Everyone else must acquire the skill through perseverance and attention to details.
First of all, a writer must get a reader's attention. An unusual, revealing, or colorful photograph can be the bait that a writer needs to lure readers to his or her article. But, once lured, the reader must sample the written words and find them to be irresistible, or the reader will read no further and move on. Smashed is a great and seldom used word to describe something that has been misfigured to the point of being unrepairable. To say more, like a bowl of eggs, suggests that the manner in which Barrett was smashed was like the cracking of a fragile eggshell, and that a bowl of smashed eggs, when smashed, is a revolting mess of guts. Stan applied that image to the captain of a sloop who had been hit by a cannonball. The description compelled me to find out what else happened.
"Hunched in a dory, dropping into one of the most storied rapids of the world's grandest canyon, I'm surprised by all that I hear. The crash of water echoes off the granite walls around me, but so do much smaller noises: the creak of the boat's wood hull, the squeak of the oars, the call of a nearby canyon wren. Maybe the adrenaline crashing through my veins has honed my senses, or maybe it's sleeping on the banks of the Colorado River under a silent spray of stars."
I think that everyone who takes the time to compose and write a story wants to tell that story in a compelling way. But, when you begin to hone your craft as a writer, you can disappoint yourself, plus if others read your writing, they can disappoint you even more! Undoubtedly, an advantage accrues to those who are born with the talent to write. Everyone else must acquire the skill through perseverance and attention to details.
First of all, a writer must get a reader's attention. An unusual, revealing, or colorful photograph can be the bait that a writer needs to lure readers to his or her article. But, once lured, the reader must sample the written words and find them to be irresistible, or the reader will read no further and move on. Smashed is a great and seldom used word to describe something that has been misfigured to the point of being unrepairable. To say more, like a bowl of eggs, suggests that the manner in which Barrett was smashed was like the cracking of a fragile eggshell, and that a bowl of smashed eggs, when smashed, is a revolting mess of guts. Stan applied that image to the captain of a sloop who had been hit by a cannonball. The description compelled me to find out what else happened.
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