Writer's Block

Emoticon

I was e-mailing someone today when I felt an emoticon coming on. You know, those little sideways faces you make with punctuation marks:

: )

In the sterile world of e-mail, emoticons seem like they should be a handy way of getting your feeling across. I'm always tempted to use them when I'm looking for a way to communicate something along the lines of "just kidding!"

Nice seeing you today. Glad they let you out of your cage long enough to have lunch.

-- comes across a little testy. But try it like this:

Nice seeing you today! Glad they let you out of your cage long enough to have lunch!    ; )

-- see? a couple exclamation points and a little winky guy, and your point is clear: "Ha ha! Just kidding, or 'JK' as the kids say. I really enjoyed lunch! I know you don't work in a cage. That would be silly! Please like me."

Give it long enough, and emoticons can open up whole new ways of communicating. Think about it...

baby:

: )-


pirate:

P- )


sad clown:

=...0 (

Unfortunately, every time I feel like using emoticons to get my point across, even in a simple e-mail,  the Serious Writer in me intervenes. "If you are writing effectively," the Serious Writer says, "your words should be able to stand on their own. If you need little smiley faces or frowny faces to get your point across, you need to go back and find stronger words!"

To which I can only say:

: p