Writing About Writing
This is the first, and probably the only time, I will leave a post without any pictures. No clickbait image or unrelated nature scenery, this is about the writing. Here goes nothing.
I have never liked writing, nor does it come naturally to me. I do have the ability to read and write quite fluently, even if I say so myself, both in English and in Finnish, but it is not something that would just pour out of me. I always struggled in school when I had to write essays, because I would always want to put everything informational into a few sentences and call it a day.
When I read, I prefer novels and fiction that has a lot of adjectives to describe how something looks and feels, painting an image into my mind. I don’t mind reading two full pages where someone describes what the main character looks like, but I find it hard to do the same myself.
Someone whose writing I admire, is @escapist, who can write a full 10-page essay about nothing. She can fill any required word limit, without actually saying anything! It’s both fantastic and horrible! And no, I’m not mocking her, we have laughed about this thing many a times together. Sometimes when I write, I think of WWEW, *what would Escapist write” if I try to get more words into my piece.
Finnish is my first language, but I actually write better in English. I started learning this wonderful language in the third grade, and it always felt very natural to me. Hard at first, of course, but I liked the language and wanted to learn it, so I did, quite easily. In junior high, I could write an English essay during recess, but the Finnish ones would take me half a day. If I try to write in Finnish now, it feels fake and weird, the words don’t flow, but in English, it’s a lot easier.
If you have been following me for a long time, you might have noticed that I do more and more writing, compared to just photography. When I started my blog, it was quite strictly about photography, maybe only adding camera details or a little description. Right from the start, the audience told me I should write more, and I was a bit against that, because I felt like my pictures should be enough, and I still think that, when it is a set of self portraits. I don’t want to write an essay to accompany those, it’s unnecessary and ruins the mood. If I write what inspired me for the pictures, how I did them, where they are taken, what I was feeling, it kills a lot of the mystery and fantasy.
There is a lot you can say with pictures, but not everything. I like to talk about myself, my life and my opinions, so I kind of have to learn how to write better in order to articulate my thoughts like they are in my head. I feel like I don’t think in words, but in pictures and feelings, so getting that into paper, is hard. I’m not sure if I am making any sense to you right now.
People keep saying to me that they like my writing, but I think half of them lie to get to my good side. I would like to write more, and better, to capture the audience with just my words, instead of my bare skin. I don’t want to be a one trick pony, I wanna be good at everything a lot of things. The fact that I have been doing a lot more writing recently, doesn’t mean I’m giving up on photography, but I’m just adding another layer to all of this. All of me.
My goal is to attain bilingual-level proficiency in English. It's much, much harder than you'd think. My wife who is an English teacher at upper secondary school tells me a lot of her students think they're much better at English than they actually are. It's quite embarrassing really.
Native speakers hear so much broken English from non-natives (and some less educated natives, although theirs is bad in different ways ) these days that they must have become desensitized to it to some degree. But if you want to be really good at writing and speaking in English as a non-native one thing you must do is eliminate gaps in your knowledge of idioms. For example, using phrasal verbs instead of their Latin-based counterparts is an important part of natural, friendly and conversational English. Also, you have to acknowledge that your vocabulary is bound to have gaps in surprising areas if you only communicate in English online.
I've read the Irish lost their language hundreds of years ago because knowledge of English was necessary for getting ahead in life in their society at the time. That is not a realistic scenario for us for a very long time, if ever, but there is some risk of English replacing Finnish in some areas in higher education. I do not welcome that development. I pity the Irish. They are native speakers of a minority variant of English that does not enjoy a particularly high status. They'd be better off as speakers of English as a second language or bilingual.
Being good in school English, being able to watch Hollywood movies without subtitles and using it to navigate on Instagram is what probably makes the kids think they are better than they actually are. Language is so complex and like you said, idioms are very important. I use a lot of idioms and proverbs(are they the same thing?) in Finnish, and I’m always trying to learn new ones in English. I love talking to native English speaking people, because I pick up new ones weekly!
I think I’m pretty good in written form, even if I say so myself, but I need to practise speaking more. I don’t have a chance to speak with native English speaking people that often, and it bums me out! I might sound a bit illiterate when speaking, because I talk fast and I use simpler language than what I would when I write.
I definitely don’t want Finnish language to die, it’s so special.
Idioms are conventional expressions such as "get on somebody's good side". Proverbs express thoughts and are usually complete sentences. There is a book called Proverbs in the Bible filled with them.
There's nothing wrong with using simple language. Even simple language is full of pitfalls and subtleties. I habitually check everything even if I have the slightest doubt as to whether some aspect of what I've written is grammatically correct. That's quite anal but my skills would suck had I not taken up that habit. It's so easy to do when you have Google, dictionaries and discussion forums about grammar at your fingertips. Another method that I haven't really used that much is so far is looking up words I don't know for things I deal with when I go about my daily business. For example, how many learners of English would know what bensatankin korkki or bensatankin luukku are in English? You rarely need to talk about those things until you do. I once had a problem with a rental VW Golf whose fuel door I could not open. In nearly every other car I've ever driven there's a lever near the floor to the left of the driver's seat you pull up to open the fuel door it but no such lever could be found in the Golf. I almost had to call the car rental to ask but I got it by reading the manual.
You already know this but, I don't know grammar. I have never learned it and never will, yet, I'm still a bit of a grammar nazi. If something looks and sounds right, it's probably grammatically correct, or at least good enough for me, and I notice errors in written English pretty easily. I just don't usually know the grammar rules. I do google a lot of phrases or words that I can't figure out by myself by trying what looks the best.
What kind of language and how particular I am about grammar depends a lot on the day and what I am writing about, and to whom.
Edit: itse opin tänään uuden sanan kun tilasin sängyn. Aloin pohtia että mitähän jenkkisänky on englanniksi, koska olin aika varma että se tuskin on yankee bed. Hetken googlailtuani sain selville että kulkee uudessa maailmassa nimellä continental bed.
I like adjective heavy writing too, and I aspire toward that. Interesting that you think in pictures, that makes perfect sense as someone that loves photography. I think when you are creative in one way, the rest of the ways come much easier. Your work with the camera has been building your writing ability I imagine.
I also like your writing posts and your perspective.
That is partly the reason why I like your writing so much🤗
Your writing is really good. English isn't my first language, either... but there's something about it that made it my preferred writing language by the time I was about 17-18. I don't know Finnish so well, but I know that the English language has many more words than Danish... it allows for a sort of nuanced "painting with words" I have never been able to accomplish in Danish.
Unlike you, writing is my "natural space." If given a choice between writing you a letter and talking to you on the phone, I'd almost always choose the letter. And it's only with some people I would choose their face-to-face company over a letter exchange.
But yes, your writing is good... regardless of what side of you I am on. But remember this, writing is best when you write for yourself, not for others. Do it because you want to, not because people "expect" it.
It's the same compared to Finnish, a lot more words, and that is partly why I like it too! "Painting with words" is exactly what I enjoy.
I also prefer to write to people, much rather than to talk on a phone, I guess it's partly because I'm shy and partly because when I write, I at least think more than a split second of what I am going to say.
And don't worry, I'm very selfish, I only write what I want and when I want to ;)
Well, I can truly tell you that your writing is good! I enjoy reading it, and I will continue to do so ;-)
Thank you very much, I will do my best to keep up the good work :)
I know you can ;-)
I write screenplays and english is my first language. You write better than me and some book writers. Your rally car post caught my eye which attract me to your profile. So far everything I see ypu post is damn good lol.
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It always baffles me how most of the native English speakers write like shit! 😝 Get your grammar right!
I never saw that the photography was the main part. It (for me) has always been a combination of the two.. Writing and posing/photographing. So kuddo's :)
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