Tag Archives: literary quotes

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What a Mark Twain Quote Teaches Us About Putting Facts First

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How do we get it right the first time? Is that even possible? As Mark Twain–author of many important works–once stated, “Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please.” In this post we are going to examine this quote. It has something to do with you as a writer and us as people. In the very least, the quote is about bending the rules after you’ve learned the rules. This is important to the writing process, regardless if you are a writer OR a Yankee from Connecticut.

Getting Your Facts Straight, According to Twain

As it relates to the Mark Twain quote in this post, the author embellished facts in his writing, especially when it came to A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. Historically, the novel is a little untrue, and historical critics railed against it for being anti-historical. That is to say, it did not play by the rules of reality, favoring satire and whimsical narrative over fact.

Yet, Twain’s quote makes a valid point when it comes to writing. We do have to get it right and then we can build from there. Getting the known truths out there is essential, as then you have the ability to embellish that truth. I think if the groundwork is laid, then writers have carte blanche to interpret as they see fit. As such, the genre of the writing does change–maybe from historical to historical fiction.

Kurt Vonnegut’s Mother Night experiences this interesting transformation. The book deals with the propagandistic efforts of the Nazi party, which truly happened. Then, the reader is given a fictitious trial and imprisonment of the lead character that seems straight from Hollywood.

“Get your facts first” means writers should have a framework for writing first. Wrapped up in a bundle, this means an understanding of grammar or structure, or both. Likewise, writers should hold those things dear and engage in the writing discipline in a practical way. It is at this point that they can “distort” the facts as they please.

A Mark Twain Quote: Bending the Truth and Form

Many famous authors have distinctive writing voices, so we have to take this Mark Twain quote lightly. These authors include James Joyce, Harper Lee, Ernest Hemingway, Flannery O’Connor, Cormac McCarthy, Joyce Carol Oates, Jane Austen, Kurt Vonnegut, and Banana Yoshimoto. Are they on point when it comes to grammar and conventions all the time? No. But that’s precisely the point. You have to learn the rules to break them. With this in mind, I think that Twain speaks to that exact point in the aforementioned quote.

You have to practice and learn the discipline before you can try to break away to create something new. Unfortunately (or fortunately) writers are bound by structure whether we acknowledge it our not. We learn it young and we see it perfected in text by those who have come before us. No matter, we can take what they have done and turn it into something new. That’s as long as we learn the basic structure first.

Getting to the point where we can break the rules in our art takes time. But, with enough practice and understanding of the fundamentals…we’ll get there.

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Writing What You Mean as Clearly as Possible

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“The difficulty of literature is not to write, but to write what you mean; not to affect your reader, but to affect him precisely as you wish.” — Robert Louis Stevenson

It is not impossible to write all of the things going on in your head in astute clarity. Sometimes it just takes time. Often, we have to find the right setting and ambience to get us to spill the words out exactly as they should. But, we cannot always afford such luxuries. Nevertheless, in this post we are going to look at a quote from Robert Louis Stevenson about using words just the right way to explain one’s exact meaning.

A Complex Problem

The above quote addresses a complex problem in writing: the use of syntax and diction in order to convey meaning. To be fair, we are human, and being human means that we make errors in writing. We also only have so much time to write, so we often have to quickly come up with the right words on the spot. That’s not easy.

Why is this a problem when considering overall meaning?

First, it is difficult to choose the right words. As stated by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Writing Center: “Writing is a series of choices. As you work on a paper, you choose your topic, your approach, your sources, and your thesis; when it’s time to write, you have to choose the words you will use to express your ideas and decide how you will arrange those words into sentences and paragraphs.”

Defining the Problem of Clear Writing

Let’s look at a few definitions to get us started:

  • Syntax: The way words and phrases are put together (complicated or uncomplicated).
  • Diction: An author’s overall word choice.

All of this is true, and tackling wordiness or lack of wordiness in writing is made difficult through choices.

Choice You Need to Make

When writing, here are some things to avoid:

  • Vagueness: Specificity is important in writing, so always be as specific as possibly. Don’t just say there was a lot of people at the party. Say there were 100 people at the party.
  • Wordiness: It’s fun to sound smart, but we don’t have to overly write to achieve that goal. Often times, writers get wordy in an attempt to be vague (legalese).
  • Redundancy: State your information clearly and only a single time if possible. Repeating the same information over and over only creates clutter.
  • Cliches: Cliches can obfuscate writing or make it unclear. Try to avoid cliches in formal writing.
  • Audience: Be mindful of who you are writing for and at what level. Whether you like it or not, your writing is supposed to communicate to an audience, so be mindful of that audience!

Conclusion

To write what you mean, you need to make very decisive and tactical choices. As with much writing, a good approach will always be writing the draft first and then combing back through the language to fix issues with clarity. Putting this practice into motion will guide you into a more focused style.