Welcome to The Village Wordsmith blog.
I never really thought of myself as a wordsmith until my team members at the George Lucas Educational Foundation started using that term to describe my skill set. I finally embraced my wordsmith identity with that year's Halloween costume. The following comes from a services ad that I later posted when seeking new clients.
I don't know about you, but whenever I hear the contemporary term "wordsmith," I think back to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's iconic poem "The Village Blacksmith." It's an 1842 verbal snapshot of a powerful, humble man doing the honest work of beating hot iron into shape and serving as an exemplar to his community. (Um, yes, I was an English major in college. How could you tell?)
So I do kind of the same thing, except here at my smithy, I use words. You give me a piece of unfinished iron or a machine part in need of repair, and I go at it hammer and tongs, crafting an improved version of the same thing -- or maybe even something newer and better. Like iron, words are a strong medium. They can bear loads and withstand torque, make incisive points or sharp edges, and reshape themselves into things of enduring beauty.
While I don't have the "large and sinewy hands" and the brow "wet with honest sweat," I certainly work hard, take pride in what I do, and seek to serve my community "at the flaming forge of life." So bring your written language problems down to the village wordsmith, and let's strike while the iron is hot!
(Or at least have a little chat about the craft of verbal messaging, the peculiarities of the English language, and the crazy stuff that people say.)