As authors we might also compare ourselves to mathematicians. The analogy can be made in that both writers
and mathematicians use symbols to create formulas that will predict or explain
an occurrence. Where they differ are the means in which they use to create
these formulas. While mathematicians use numbers and symbols to derive formulas
to explain natural laws of the universe, writers use words to compose formulas
that will elicit emotion. Both mathematicians
and writers must be creative in discovering these formulas, however, the
mathematician is governed by objective rules and laws that must be followed, as
science is defined in exact measurable units.
Writers too must adhere to a certain degree of accepted spelling, grammatical and punctuation rules, but we have been granted more subjectivity by the issuance of what is termed a “poetic license.” If a mathematician states that 2+2=5 we can indisputably prove him wrong. However, a writer can purposefully compose a sentence that does not adhere exactly to spelling, grammatical and punctuation rules so as to elicit an emotional response that may not have been possible to do otherwise. It may not have the desired emotional effect on everyone, but it could not be proven that it was composed incorrectly, only that to some it was not the right combination of words to elicit the desired response that was brought about in others. With this in mind, my fellow wordematicians, let us not fear to be bold as we exercise our creativity, for we may create worlds in which 2+2 does in fact equal 5, and no one can prove us wrong!
Writers too must adhere to a certain degree of accepted spelling, grammatical and punctuation rules, but we have been granted more subjectivity by the issuance of what is termed a “poetic license.” If a mathematician states that 2+2=5 we can indisputably prove him wrong. However, a writer can purposefully compose a sentence that does not adhere exactly to spelling, grammatical and punctuation rules so as to elicit an emotional response that may not have been possible to do otherwise. It may not have the desired emotional effect on everyone, but it could not be proven that it was composed incorrectly, only that to some it was not the right combination of words to elicit the desired response that was brought about in others. With this in mind, my fellow wordematicians, let us not fear to be bold as we exercise our creativity, for we may create worlds in which 2+2 does in fact equal 5, and no one can prove us wrong!
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