I heard a new word on the radio the other day. – idiolect. The subject matter was a news item regarding finding the author of an anonymous book/op-ed piece. According to Merriam Webster, ideolect is “the language or speech pattern of one individual at a particular period of life.”
I had to take a linguistics correspondence course in college, because it would not be offered before I graduated. I took the final thinking that I don’t know what I had just learned and thought my graduation was in peril. I don’t know how I managed to make a C, but I was very grateful for it.
Forensic science can track down the author of a piece using the linguistic (scientific study of language) fingerprint. In simpler terms, every writer has a style of writing that is uniquely their own – a writer’s DNA.
I am sure that linguistics can help some writers, but regardless we all have our own styles, or what some prefer to say voice. When I started this blog, I knew I needed to be me. And that is not easy right now, and can be quite revolutionary.
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