84 Part 1 Basic Communication Processes
NAME: Matt Burgess
OCCUPATION: Author and Creative Writing InstructorThe use of language
has always been fasci-
nating to me. When my
first novel (Dogfight: A
Love Story) was published, reviewers said I had
an incredible ear for dialogue and the “poetry” of
the street. I was flattered to have succeeded at
putting the vivid language of my New York City
neighborhood onto the printed page.
When I began writing stories in college, I
used the more sophisticated terminology of my
professors and student peers. But back home
in Queens, I felt uncomfortable—almost guilty—
using the high language of that urbane, profes-
sional context. Then I realized there was no
reason to be anxious; the language of different
economic, social, and cultural groups is rich with
meaning. I really believe that this conscious deci-
sion helped my fiction become more realistic and
reflective of the worlds around me. For example,
when I try to capture the conversations in bode-
gas, bowling alleys, and barbershops, I use the
casual, low language so familiar to me; it’s filled
with the slang, neighborhood references, and
good-humored insults that I grew up around.
Nonverbal communication is important to cap-
ture, too. Some people deliver an insult with a
wink, smile, or vocal tone that expresses loveand changes the literal meaning of the words
spoken.
Precise language is important to my writing
as well. For example, I avoid clichés and highly
abstract language. If you say something hap-
pened “out of the blue,” you don’t really mean
something came out of a color; this is a lazy
language choice. Rather, I use precise words for
clarity and interest: “She showed signs of sat-
isfaction as she took possession of her reward”
transforms into “Gilda grinned as she snatched
the coin.” (On a personal note, precise language
is important in my marriage, too. When my wife
says, “I particularly enjoyed the curry dish you
spent an hour making tonight,” I appreciate it
even more than when she just says, “Thanks for
fixing dinner.”)
In addition to working on my second novel, I
teach creative writing courses to both traditional
students and older adults. One of my goals is to
help them find their own unique voice as writers
to say what they mean accurately and precisely
while utilizing the unique words and speaking
styles comfortable and familiar to them. This jour-
ney with language has been deeply rewarding to
me and enriches my life. My hope as an author
and teacher is that my readers and students will
be able to say the same.real communicator
simply say the shoe whereas a Spanish speaker marks the word as masculine
(el zapato, el being the masculine article); a French speaker marks the word as
feminine (la chaussure, la being the feminine article). Marking an object as mas-
culine or feminine changes a speaker’s mental picture of the object. For example,
German speakers describe a key (a masculine word in German) in traditionally
masculine terms (hard, heavy, jagged, metal, serrated, and useful) whereas Spanish
speakers describe a key (a feminine word in Spanish) in traditionally feminine
terms (golden, intricate, little, lovely, shiny, and tiny) (Wasserman & Weseley,
2009).