Day 2: My Five Favourite Words In English

I’ve never considered myself much of an admirer of superfluous writing draped with more embellishments and gaudy, grating enhancements than that hideous, genuine gold- and red-trimmed Mercedes-Benz McLaren SLR owned by Swiss businessman Ueli Anliker.

See what I did there?

EXCESSIVE: It said more than enough in its pre-modified form.

I’ve always believed that the first rule of anything you write should be to communicate. Failing that is akin to Yokohama designing a brand new tyre that is unable to rotate.

For that reason, I tend to shy away from gigantic words in my own writing, using them sparingly and generally admonishing myself for using them unnecessarily. All of which brings me to five of my favourite words in English, based on their relative simplicity, how classily they roll off the tongue and their ability to create complex, detailed images in your mind’s eye with just a few drops of paint.

(Oh, and as a car enthusiast, please forgive me for all my examples, which are motoring references.)

NUANCE (a subtle difference in a meaning, expression, or sound)

The nuances between the design of the new model and the one it replaces are visible only to the eye of the true enthusiast.

VISCERAL (animal, instinctual, primitive, relating to deep inward feelings rather than intellect)

The reward for having your eardrums ripped to shreds by this mid-engined beast is a driving experience of the most visceral kind.

AESTHETIC (concerned with beauty or the appreciation of beauty)

It would be silly not to dedicate at least three relatively meaty paragraphs to the aesthetics of the X6, such is the polarizing nature of its design.

VACUOUS (mindless)

I told him that the car looked like it was no longer attached to its chassis, and that there was a hole in the floor under the front seat, but the salesman insisted it was in an excellent condition. Vacuous fool.

IGNORAMUS (an ignorant or stupid person)

Whoever conceived the placement of this electronic parking brake is, in all honesty, an ignoramus.

By the way, choosing five favourite words? NOT AN EASY TASK!

Even If You Know Me Well, You Don't Know This

This blog post is the first of (hopefully) 31 I will write for the duration of July. I stumbled upon the Twitter account @Writersbootcmp aka Writers' Bootcamp, where a blogging topic is posted every day at 6pm and South African bloggers are encouraged to write something - to write ANYTHING - based on that topic, before tweeting your content to this account.

It's a great idea for anyone who loves to write, but especially for those - like me - who struggle for regular writing inspiration. So, here we go!



Even if you know me well, you don't know this.

I thought I'd just delve a little bit into why my personal blog exists in the first place. While calling yourself a 'blogger' either comes off as extremely cool or an extreme call for attention (depending on who you talk to), for me it represents much more.

My close friends are probably sick to death of hearing me say this, but Karl Ryan Furlong is an introvert. He enjoys greater amounts of peace, quiet and reflection than his more extroverted friends and colleagues (and this is the point at which he'll stop patronisingly referring to himself in the third person). The most noteworthy difference between the two personality types is that extroverts gain energy by spending time around other people; in the same situation, an introvert loses energy. The latter doesn't hate social interaction at all; he or she just needs less of it to reach a point of adequate stimulation.
For introverts, writing is truly a way of life and a space that feels safe and not invasive. One of the areas in which introverts battle is that we live in a world that demands constant, fast-paced communication. I'm talking about social gatherings and office brainstorms alike, where thinking on your feet and spewing out disjointed but animated thoughts are given much more weight than slowly processing and coming back with something well thought through, concise and usable.

As an introvert, I hate contributing an idea (whether formally or informally), if I feel it doesn't make sense as a whole. In fact, I feel like a complete nutcase if I do. Extroverts, and I do envy them for this, think more freely, verbalising almost everything as they go along - half doesn't make sense, but half will end up being gem-worthy. Neither means of thinking is wrong, they're just vastly different. Because while the introvert is 'processing' one idea in detail, the extroverts in the room have already motored along to the next one hundred topics. This makes verbal communication (in groups) much trickier for me, which brings me to why I say writing is a way of life.
Writing gives me the time to arrange my thoughts clearly, without mumbling through them when rushed. The confidence that's lacking in a noisy face-to-face scenario is all there in the email or letter I've written.

Often, writing about even the trivial stuff leaves me feeling wide awake, alert and full of energy. It's that satisfying to be able to say exactly what I want to say, when I want to say it, without interruption.  So as much as the world we live in always seems to have the volume knob turned up 30% higher than I would like it to be, that world also means I have access to Blogger, or Wordpress, or Facebook notes - all places where I and I'm sure many others feel well and truly at ease.

Whether ten or a thousand people choose to engage with something I've written isn't really the point (okay, so ten thousand would be rather fantastic), because like everyone else, self-expression is crucial. Being heard is crucial, in whatever form you're being heard. Being called out on your way of thinking is also important, and I have had some of the most intense, personal and challenging one-on-one conversations based on something I've put into words.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why I have trucked along with this silly little blog. To the next 30, let's do this!