How to Improve Your Writing with Shades of Meaning

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How to Improve Your Writing with Shades of
Meaning OR Chiseling Your Words to Perfect Your
Masterpiece
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Michaelangelo achieved extraordinary control of
his work by chipping marble away a layer at a
time to obtain the precise form he had
envisioned. His sculpture of David took three
years to carve from a nineteen foot block of
stone. In this picture, a worker washes the
statue, now housed in Florence, Italy.
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We can compare writing to the creation of a
statue. A rough draft of a poem might contain
the sentence, The branches were wet with
dewdrops.
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The final draft, after chisling on words to make
our meaning more clear, might read, Morning dew
clings on branches like milk drops
instead of The branches were wet with dewdrops.
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Another way to look at editing a rough draft is
to focus on shades of meaning. For example,
notice that Bob has these blinds open, causing
the sun to fully shine on this painting.
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Now Bob has slightly closed the blinds,
providing some shade for the painting. How can
this shade improve the picture?
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Using more precise words in a sentence, such as
trudged instead of walked, can give a
sentence a more precise shade of meaning.
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Click on the sentence below that provides a more
precise meaning. The way a crow Made fall on
meA little snowFrom a hemlock tree OR The
way a crowShook down on meThe dust of snowFrom
a hemlock tree
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The second phrase provides for more shades of
meaning.
What words are chisled out? What are they
replaced with?
The way a crow made fall on methe snowfrom a
tree OR The way a crowS______ d_____ on
meThe d____ of snowFrom a h______ tree
hook
own
ust
emlock
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Edit your writing with shades of meaning. Chisel
out words that blur images, and replace them with
specific words that show your reader what you see
as you write.