Stuff and Nonsense

Following on from my hymn of praise to Roget, of Thesaurus fame, I thought it would be good to have a little Lewis Carroll moment, because I think it was that nonpareil of the nonsensical who made the following remark:

"Take care of the sounds and the sense will take care of itself."

I think this is a great way to look at the use of language as it makes you come at writing from a slightly different angle, not getting too bogged down in meaning (you can fix that later) but just thinking about the plasticity of words, how malleable they can be, how audible....(and edible?)

With your Thesaurus close at hand (and if you haven't got one, rush out and buy one, even before you buy The Hand That Once Held Mine by Maggie O'Farrell, which I'm longing to read) sit yourself down and have a go at writing some nonsense verse.  Do what Carroll says and just think about the sounds,  bemuse and bewitch yourself. You will probably have no direct use for what you come out with, but I wouldn't mind betting that next time you settle down to write, your sensitivity to what you're saying will be more acute and you will be far more dexterous.