Expression, for me, is an odd and incongruous activity. Aside from a few unusual lexoconic abnormalities, I speak pretty much the same as anyone else. Slang is a common element of my verbal communication, and the word "dude" often features with embarrassing frequency. It is in hyperbole that I make special use of any speaking skills I may have. Aside from that, I sound pretty much like anyone else when I talk. Writing, however, is another story.
First, allow me to say in my defense, that I write quite easily. The words flow freely, and I find the process simple almost to the point of the automatic. Starting can be a pain, but once I've typed out a few words the rest follow of their own volition. When an unusual word is found, it has appeared almost always of its own accord. Even so I know I write with an unusual hand, one to be found, if the critic is favorable, on that of a nineteenth century jurist. Though equally valid would be the characterization that my writing resembles that of a particularly bombastic and ostentatious bureaucrat. To be sure, I stand behind everything I write with a certain degree of pride, and I certainly refuse to cater to others and intentionally "dumb down" expression that comes naturally. Even so, there are times when I read over what I have wrote and part of me cringes at the tone.
The funny thing is, I am not an extraordinarily formal person. Polite perhaps, but if that is to an unusual extent, then it is so only because common courtesy has become an uncommon offering. But for some reason, in text, I always come across as, well, as the kind of person you'd expect to find at Lord Witherspoon's.
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