The Perils and Pleasures of Stilted Writing

We can have fun with this!

Of all the Christmas Eves in my childhood, I remember most clearly the year someone brought a pair of stilts.

These stilts were things of wonder-light-colored wooden poles with red pegs for your feet. We celebrated the evening with another family, and we all took turns crashing around the house on them. Hilarity ensued.

As the youngest of the bunch, I loved the idea of being so much taller than everyone else for a moment. But walking on the things was much trickier than I’d hoped. Ballet classes hadn’t prepared me for balancing on poles.

I looked ridiculous. We all did.

Stilted writing

Something similar happens when we write with unfamiliar words or ideas. As we stumble to put one word after another, our prose lurches and wobbles.

High school teachers and college professors can spot if students are trying to bluff their way through a topic they don’t understand. Students try to hide behind elevated prose, and it shows.

When we elevate our tone beyond our own understanding, our language sounds (wait for it) stilted.

The issue stays with us beyond school. Faced with a blank page, many people put on a “writerly” hat…