Parentheses

Evidence of the writing process

  Parentheses, bracketing words in my notebook; to a stranger, they could seem odd. 

  But they're really used more like a highlighter, drawing my future attention back to words and phrases that might need to change. Asking:

  1. Is this actually accurate?

  2. Does that sound sufficiently settled, and right?

  They are evidence of a writing process, that the reader doesn’t see. 


  Now, I’m not talking about the written ‘asides’ (No, not those), which are sometimes italicized. Nor do I mean 'in parentheses' in a math-related way.

  The parentheses in my writing serve a different purpose than the crossed-out sections and the notes written in the margins. Instead, they find their place surrounding the last line of a poem which is scribbled on my page. Saying, "It rhymes, but the trouble is, it doesn’t mean what I want it to." Or they might encircle a paragraph that I'm thinking of editing out. 

  Parentheses are essential, in my writing-notebook-code, they are a note to myself that means: reconsider. Sometimes there are pages without any of them present, and elsewhere, there are parentheses stacked upon parentheses as I suggest multiple options to myself. Like (crazy?), (wild), or (unheard-of) word choices, with question marks added onto those I’m less sure about. 

  But by the time my words are all typed-up and edited, most of the parentheses are gone. Resolved, like their cousins in mathematics, in order to solve the equation of my story or post. Evidence of them only to be found on inky, handwritten pages, hidden away in my desk. 

  So, if you find yourself reading my writing, and come across phrases that sound silly, and seem strange.

  Just imagine that I forgot to put those particular expressions

  In parentheses. 

  (And show some grace, for lil' ol' me)

  Thank you for enjoying this post from Mountain Chickadee! If this made you smile and you’d like to see more in the coming weeks, please consider subscribing to my Substack!