Being Articulate. in The Napkin.

It takes practice. For me, yes, it is intentional to a degree. As a writer, it helps with getting points across. Because if I stop being articulate, it changes the tone of the writing and conveys a different emotion. Like someone using a formal voice, and then you hear their voice breaking as they express something.

Because I DO curse in real life. I simply try to limit it. So that when I DO curse, it has meaning and impact. Because if you’re always cursing, more cursing will make you feel “Well, guess it’s a normal Thursday for him.”

Like. Here, I use the BSG “frak” to be a little playful. But if I say a full “fuck”, well, it makes you feel something else.

Okay, again, it takes practice. In the 4th grade, I got a D in penmanship. I wanted to write as fast as possible. Naturally, my handwriting was TERRIBLE. I realized I needed to slow down. So, I intentionally slowed down my handwriting to retrain myself. So now, my print is easily readable.

I made the same mistake with typing. I wanted to type AS FAST AS POSSIBLE. (While also not looking at my fingers.) And oh, I could. But I noticed I kept hitting the backspace with my right pinkie a LOT. So, I make a decision to SLOW DOWN. And while we all hit the backspace now and then, my typing improved. And with practice and repetition, my speed started creeping back up to the levels I wanted. Without the excessive backspacing.

Grammar and spelling. I really think a lot of that came all those conversations on AIM. (AOL Instant Messenger) In a time when kids were using shorthands like wtf or lol or brb excessively, that wasn’t me at all. I almost always used full sentences, with proper capitalization and punctuation. And you know what I’d do if I wasn’t sure how to spell a word?

Well, there was this thing called the “Information Superhighway”, so I’d simply look up the word. I’m not a perfect speller (I feel I’m pretty good), but I do have this feeling when I look at a word and think “I don’t think I spelled that right…” So, I look it up, and check.

And… because of all that practice, I noticed I could type/respond SO fast on AIM. Oh, you think I can wordvomit here. Imagine me wordvomiting in real-time. You’re still thinking/typing, and suddenly five messages flood your screen.

Don’t worry, I only did this once I formed a rapport with someone to a degree. And see, there’s an example right there, I had to look up “rapport”. Hey, I’ll admit when I don’t know things. I like to joke “I enjoy being wrong”, as it is an opportunity to learn, or otherwise course correct my knowledge base.

When I moved south of the Mason-Dixon Line, I intentionally stopped using my “southern accent”. These are just words on a screen, so you may not know I’m capable of doing accents. Good or bad in terms of talent, I can. Love my Captain Scott “Scottish”. (Ha ha, “DUNNA LIGHT THAT CANDLE, IT’LL BRING THE GHOST!”**) I decided to not do the accent because I didn’t want to pick it up as a default. (Though, now, I have more than one southern accent. Because my MIL’s accent is… unique.)

Do something often enough and you become it. Mental training.

I think that’s enough for now, darlings.

Now don’t eat all the cheesecake, I’m on a diet.

**TNG s7e14 “Sub Rosa” (And yes, I know the context is an Irish accent, but those accents blur together at times.)