Evening star., 1932-02-19
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

vice on this subject are forever telling
beginners to boil 1t down"
But this condensation comes from the
inside, not from the outside. 1t Is not
something which is done by taking
thought, by saying to ones self, NOW
l must keep this within so many thou
sand words" or Il will just let this
run and cut it down afterward."
The real abbreviation. which alone
deserves the name, Is that which comes
because the writer knows exactly what
he wants to say-and says 1t.
When he says it he is through.
Unlike the speaker who can never
finish, the good writer instinctively
knows when to quit. He stops when
he says what he set out to say. 1t Is
as easy as that!
Good writing achieves its purpose.
That is another Of its signs. 1t is ex-
actly like modern radio quality" as 1t
comes from the speaker (at least. &C.
coruing to the claim8. The best re-
ceivers, We are told, reproduce exactly
what went into the microphone, no less
and no more.
The best writing makes the best read
ers think exactly in tune with the
writer.
But with overtonesl
Let us never forget those. These are
the sparks struck of by mind against
mind. intelligence against intelligence
The best mental receiving sets will
get" these fine overtones. and in agree
ment or disagreement-it really makes
no difference-find their largest salts
faction.
Utmost clarity is another mark Of
I ha lisk@ nj,
who set a mark for others to follow
never wrote an obscure sentence.
He knew what he wanted to say and
he said it, and in saying 1t he could
no: achieve anything except the utmost
clarity. That is what writing is for, is
it not?
Obscurity is the sign OF the amateur.
Or that man is writing about the arts
Take music. The musical reviewer Is
facing one Of the most impossible tasks
in the world-to delineate one art in
terms of another. At the best. 1t can
not be done. Nothing is more amusing
rightly considered, than the program
descriptions" Of music. One critic sees
palm trees when the big bass drum
goes boom m-boom, but the very next one
says the composer meant the drums to
be the sound Of an "oncoming fate"
Good writing knows no obscurity. but
is so plain that a child can understand
what the author meant to say. This is
because the author wanted every one
to understand. He had no ak to grind,
nothing to cover up. no one to mystify,
and so impress He wanted people to
understand; that was what he was
writing for. That is why he never got
| excited about split infinitives and par
| ticipial endings and the like, Just SO
long as they left his meaning unmis-
| taxable.
| There are three other signs OF good
writing which We must hurry through.
One Of these is the quality OF inner in
terest, which Is sort Of mental glow
upon the page and you have to be a
| good reader to see It. Two others are
felicity Of thought and felicity of ex-
/ preston. They are not necessarily the
same, although they may be.
Sometimes felicity of expression
brings about felicity OF thought, some
times 1t is the other way round: in any
event. every reader knows when a thing
is said well and with an original twist
1t may not suit the critics" but 1t will
please the reader And the good read
er Is. after all. thet best critic the good
writer will ever have.