I love words

My instinct today was to write about Terry Pratchett. He's been one of my favourite authors since I was in my early teens, and I've read more books by Pratchett than any by any other author - in part because he's written loads more than most other authors. I really don't know what I'd say though, that hasn't already been said better, so instead I'm going to write more generally about something that he helped inspire in me - the love of words, and the desire to use them and to write them down. 

Words are unfathomably versatile. They all have distinct character and definition, but it's only when you put them together that you really start to see their potential. You can ask a hundred people to write a hundred words about a specific event, and every one of the finished pieces will be different, even though many of the words used are likely to be the same. 

Each of them will be infused with the experiences, personalities and agendas of their respective authors, yet because of the way we use and learn language, each of those hundred people will be able to understand the context and meaning of their peers' creations. Words allow us to convey our opinions, to explain concepts and teach skills, and to do it in a way that is entirely personal, but which can be universally understood. 

Words are magic. The way that one person describes an event can influence how you feel about something that you yourself didn't witness. You have an emotional response to news stories you read, despite them being someone else's experiences. You can convince, and be convinced of things without any direct contact, just by the use of words. 

Terrorist. Guerrilla. Freedom fighter. 

They all describe the same person, but from different perspectives. In spite of the fact that we all load our words with our own biases, we are often oblivious to it when we read someone else's bias-fuelled words, and we read the words as fact, rather than opinion. We can be convinced of something even when the visible evidence contradicts it, by well selected words. 

And irrespective of that, we have a tendency to use them completely liberally, without any thought given to the consequences. We use them to hurt, to confuse, to indoctrinate, to assert untruths. We take them at face value when they are used to mock, to castigate, and to undermine. 

And yet, if something is worth saying, it's worth saying well. With the right words, you can be a force for change, a force for good; you can inspire, reassure, empathise; you can teach, inform, and entertain. 

Words are powerful. They hold a power that each of us has the opportunity to control. And we each choose whether to wield them as a weapon or to apply them as a balm. 

Terry himself said "No one is actually dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away" (Reaper Man).

So choose your words wisely, and with care. Words well chosen, and carefully placed, can allow you to achieve an immortality of sorts. And what greater power can there be?