WHAT WOULD C.S. LEWIS SAY?

"In the Beginning ..."

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With so many books about how to write (the writing craft), it’s amazing anyone ever attempts to put pen to paper. Words abound, critics prevail, and yet real life is scarier than any thriller ever written!

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But those of us who have a passion to write can receive no better instruction than what C.S. Lewis gave this schoolgirl in 1959. I dare say she never forgot the words the master penned to her:

“TO A SCHOOLGIRL IN AMERICA, who had written (at her teacher's suggestion) to request advice on writing.

14 December 1959

It is very hard to give any general advice about writing.

Here's my attempt.

(1) Turn off the Radio.

(2) Read all the good books you can, and avoid nearly all magazines.

(3) Always write (and read) with the ear, not the eye. You should hear every sentence you write as if it was being read aloud or spoken. If it does not sound nice, try again.

(4) Write about what really interests you, whether it is real things or imaginary things, and nothing else. (Notice this means that if you are interested only in writing you will never be a writer, because you will have nothing to write about...)

(5) Take great pains to be clear. Remember that though you start by knowing what you mean, the reader doesn't, and a single ill-chosen word may lead him to a total misunderstanding. In a story it is terribly easy just to forget that you have not told the reader something that he wants to know —the whole picture is so clear in your own mind that you forget that it isn't the same in

(6) When you give up a bit of work don't (unless it is hopelessly bad) throw it away. Put it in a drawer. It may come in useful later. Much of my best work, or what I think my best, is the rewriting of things begun and abandoned years earlier.

(7) Don't use a typewriter. The noise will destroy your sense of rhythm, which still needs years of training

(8) Be sure you know the meaning (or meanings) of every word you use.”

Each of Mr. Lewis’s points make sense … until we get to #8. Who would use a word without understanding its meaning?

To accurately answer this question, let’s look at our current culture. Some want to be defined by their pronouns. Until they don’t. At one time, “she” referred to a woman. Yet, when a judge was recently asked to define the term “woman,” she deferred to a biologist.

Where can we find language and meaning? Easy peasy. “In the beginning.” God spoke the world into being by the power of His Word (Gen. 1:1 and Heb.11:3, KJV). God created meaning out of nothing. Think of the depths of the oceans, the tallest mountains, the innumerable stars, and the air we breathe.

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Words have the power of life and death (Prov.18:21).

Maybe Mr. Lewis advised us to understand the meaning of words before using them because of the power words contain. How much power?

The very extraordinary life-giving, creative power the Word had from the beginning.