Words are Your Roads

Some people might say they think in the form of words, while others might say they think in the form of pictures. In truth, everyone initially thinks in the form of ideas – concepts which human beings share with one another.

People use words, whether written or spoken, as a medium to transmit one person’s ideas to another person. However, people not only use words, but phrases, which build to make sentences, which then build to make vast amounts of information. All of those things stem from humans’ thoughts – the ideas which humans develop in their minds and share with their languages.

Words by themselves are merely the road on which our ideas travel from person to person. It doesn’t matter what language is spoken, all humans use language to communicate. If you destroy or confuse the road-system, you destroy or complicate the means by which one person can convey information to another person.

When people tell or write something, they need to use their words effectively. They need to choose the best paths on which to send their ideas from themselves to their audience. The paths need to be chosen carefully, as their ideas may try to enter closed ears or blind eyes, or may be shoved around by opposing thoughts, or may be attacked from the side or behind by interruptions or self-inflicted contrariness, or may be clothed too plainly to be noticed by mental eyes that look for a jeweled, brightly colored idea.

In stories, this is no different. While a spoken story may need to differ from a written one, either way the story must be spoken or written by choosing the best paths to carry the author’s ideas – the best words, the best method of phrasing, the best sentence structure, the best word-emphasis, the best choice of words, etc.

A road is just a road, but the wrong road can lead a wrong person to the wrong place.

A word is just a word, but the wrong words can convey a wrong idea in the wrong way.

~ Fintan