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Monday, July 6, 2026

It's finding that 'right word' combination

 

“Words - so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary - how potent for good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to combine them.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne
 

Born in July of 1804, Hawthorne became one of the prominent mid-19th Century American writers, primarily through tales about his native New England. His fictional works, labeled by some as "Dark romanticism," have themes centering on the inherent evil and sin of humanity with moral messages and deep psychological complexity embedded in them.

 

His most prominent story that has lasted through the ages, is his tale of adultery, The Scarlet Letter.  It’s success catapulted him from near obscurity into the center of the New England writing movement that included such prominent writers as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  He took advantage of his new popularity to rapidly publish The House of the Seven GablesWonder Book for Girls and Boys, and a new version of Twice-Told Tales, which hadn't succeeded in its earlier release.

 

The great-great grandson of one of the judges at the Salem Witch Trials, Hawthorne wrote often about Puritanic themes and espoused being pure, accurate and meticulous, especially when it came to the power that writers' words can convey.   


“Accuracy," he said, "is the twin brother of honesty; inaccuracy of dishonesty.  Easy reading is damn hard writing.”

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