A Garden of Words – W.O.W.!

June 21, 2011

Carol's post started me thinking about the wonder of words - W.O.W.!

I liken writing to my efforts at gardening. Each year, some plants remain undisturbed. I can imagine them breathing a collective sigh of relief, secure in their alloted spot. For now. Other plants are uprooted and moved because I think they'll do or look better in their new location. After a few weeks, they seem happier in their new home.

When I write, my words often move about, as well. I must admit, this is much easier than those long-ago, Olivetti-typewriter-days-of-university-essays. That's when shifting a phrase usually meant tearing out the paper and cranking in a new sheet, to start afresh.

Blossoms can appear early in the season or not make an appearance until the summer begins to show signs of fading into the chillier days of autumn. Similar to writing, where showy sentences may scent the piece early-on or leave the reader reaching for that last bouquet of prose.

Sometimes, a pruning is necessary. Even then, those more tenacious members of the garden club pop up again and again. Editing and pruning. Pruning and editing.

Words, like so many plants in a garden, require attention and care, fertilizing, seeding and weeding. As time goes by, the garden grows and is shaped - much like the writing process, which also flourishes with attention, care, fertilizing, seeding and weeding.

10 Replies to “A Garden of Words – W.O.W.!”

  1. Synchronicity? Just ten minutes ago, I responded to a comment in one of my posts that suggested that I was virulent! I demurred and suggested that perhaps virile was meant!

  4. I can admire flowers in somebody else’s house or garden, but my garden is coloured by shrubs – tough like me! 😆 I do not like flowers in my house, I associate them with illness and death. 🙁

    I wonder what that says about me? Maybe I am better off not knowing!

  5. Words are in many ways similar to a garden. When they are polished and well maintained, they provide joy. If they are unkept and neglected, they can be a source of annoyance. So yeah I can say that the English cottage garden look certainly has a say in terms of how you write 🙂

  6. Ramana,
    I’ll make my way over to your “place” today.

    Carol,
    “A fine woman,” almost sounds “Austenish”, doesn’t it? 🙂

    Here’s to the proliferation of both – words and plants!

    GM,
    That’s the amygdala for you. It’s a gland that remembers strong emotional memories and elicits a response. (I’ve written about this a few times.)

    Ashok,
    Hmmm. How shall I interpret this one? LOL!

  7. Marianna,

    Are the pictures you are showing in this post, pictures of flowers that you are growing in your garden? If so, you not only demonstrate great talent and skill with words but also with gardening!

    The gardens/flowers are absolutely beautiful to look at…thanks so much for sharing 🙂

  8. Dorlee,
    Like reaching and stretching for the highest fruit on the tree, I aim to do the same with my writing and gardening.

    The pictures you see were taken in Anacortes, Washington. This is the look I hope to achieve one day, for both my writing and my garden – full, healthy and a riot of colour. 🙂

    Do you garden?

  9. Lovely, poetic analogy, Marianna!

    Enchanting where you describe ‘showy sentences (that may) scent the piece early-on, or leave the reader reaching for that last bouquet of prose.’

    Indeed, words DO require attention and care … a definite ‘process.’ Without such attention, the content withers; with attention, the flourishing you describe occurs. Fortunately, in this new global web of writing that we face, word gardeners such as you stand out, emitting poetry and prose scents that leave us wanting more.

    Thank you!
    Jacqui

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