Govern? or Rule?

Getting your words right

Word choice is important.

You want to use the words that accurately portray what you are writing. You want the reader to be able to see the same picture in their mind that you do in yours. It’s simple…

Granted, sometimes it isn’t so simple, but that is why we need to build our vocabulary, both as readers and writers.

Verbs provide the power to our stories. Adverbs modify verbs, and that is great. However, a verb that needs modifying is often one that needs replacing. Rather than bolstering your verb with an adverb, try to find a verb strong enough to do the job.

In the examples above, the initial verbs—ran, cooked, danced—are all fine solid verbs. But none of them create an exact picture.

The thief might have scurried, trying to be quiet and hurry at the same time, but what if the goal was to seem nonchalant yet still make speed? Maybe you wanted your thief to blend in. So, you’d have him jog, which wouldn’t attract as much attention.

Your chef might have broiled the venison, but (depending on the cut of meat) it’s more likely she would have roasted it slowly, giving it time to cook to a tender consistency. So, in that case, your word choice depends on another choice, which cut of venison was it?

Finally, the couple who danced: how old were they? What kind of music did they like? What kind of party was it? It might have been a wedding, where a traditional dance would have been a waltz, or at least something slow tempo. What if it’s a fun wedding, where the couple leads off in a hip hop number? Or an anniversary party where a middle-aged couple (of any sort) bursts into a West Coast swing? Again, precise word choice can depend on other choices you’ve already made.

The objective is to use words that are accurate and invoke the all-important story you are writing and place it in your reader’s head.

Sometimes there are considerations that we not be aware of, rules or common practices that make reading easier.

In writing a short story recently, I was trying to convey the exact color lawn where the scene took place. My brain settled on using ‘green-gold’, until my editor pointed out that English language has a guidelines (or rules¹) that puts an order to color words for what is referred to as a phrasal adjective. I won’t try to reproduce our conversation; as usual I was too stubborn to simply accept a correction. We settled on golden green (gold-ish green would also do) as better representing my image.

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                 A phrasal adjective (or compound modifier or adjectival compound)...
                          is a phrase that functions as one unit to modify a noun

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Word choice affects the emotional weight of a passage as well. Consider the following.

Among the several definitions of ‘rule’ at www.merriam-webster.com is this:

            RULE —-2a: to exercise authority or power over often harshly or arbitrarily    

and among definitions of ‘govern’, this:

           GOVERN—- a: to exercise continuous sovereign authority over
                              especially : to control and direct the making and administration of             
                             policy in
                            
                            b: to rule without sovereign power and usually without having the
                           authority to determine basic policy

Although the first definition of ‘govern’ includes sovereign authority as an element, the second specifically does not. In fact, the first definition under ‘govern’ leans into the meaning of ‘rule’. In truth, it is the type of governing that wannabe rulers plan to employ.

Our country was designed to run by governance, not by sovereign authority. Americans don’t want to be ruled. In fact, the ones trying to rule don’t want to be ruled either. They want to rule the rest of us.

In an election year, one could write:

                Two different political parties want to govern the United States.

This would be correct, but it would be imprecise.

A more precise statement would be written this way:

 The Democratic Party wants to govern the US; the Republican Party wants to rule it.

A shorter, opinionated version could look like this:

          Dems want to govern the US. The GOP wants to rule it. Don't be the GOP.

1. I’ve been informed that if you are writing for publications that follow The Chicago Manual of Style, we’re talking about ‘the rules’. If you are not writing specifically for an organization following CMOS, then what the manual says are ‘guidelines’. Other organizations have their own guidelines/rules that are often disputed as language morphs.