1) Silence is the virtue of fools – Francis Bacon

2) Better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt – Mark Twain

I tend toward #2, but as a writer, I can’t survive without cracking the egg a little. When the words do spill out on the page, I make sure I know what I’m really saying. Say what you mean, not what you say kind-of-thing… sort of.

I took the above picture on a business trip I made last year to Thailand. Directly across from the hotel at which I stayed was this small Thai massage parlor. Every day upon my return from the local office, I couldn’t help but notice this sign. I knew I had to try a Thai massage while I was there, but I couldn’t bring myself to go to that particular parlor (I ended up at one down by the river… which by the way has no special meaning other than that’s where it was located).

There in Bangkok, no one thought twice about this place and its unique name, but take that same establishment and put it in the U.S. and it takes on a whole different meaning.

When we write, we know what we mean, but is that what really ends up on the page? Don’t fall in love with your words so much that you lose sight of what you’re trying to say. Analyze, don’t over-analyze, but at least take the time to make sure you’re not opening a Thai massage parlor that no one will want to patronize.

Until Next Week – Don’t Look Down
by W. Darrah Whitaker