Love Lettering

 

Seven words is not very many. Kate Clayborn makes these seven words the entire first paragraph of her novel Love Lettering. She sets them apart for our consideration. What do these highlighted words accomplish?

We have a time, although it is strange. Normally, "On Sunday" refers to a different time than the current time, but "I work" is in the present tense, which says that all of this is happening now. That bothers me a little, as does not placing a comma after "On Sunday." I find it better usage to place a comma after opening phrases that place the rest of the sentence in a time, place, or situation. 

We have a person: – "I" – which means that the voice and the subject are the same person. So the words tell us how this person talks and sees the world as well as what they do. 

Then we have "work." There's a little ambiguity here as well. Does work mean that "sans serif" is the entire profession, or only Sunday's task? Does this task fill the whole day or even longer? Present tense is less precise here than past tense would be. Look at how much changes in past tense and with a comma: "On Sunday, I worked in sans serif." Past tense puts bounds on the activity. 

Finally, "sans serif" is a very specific and somewhat uncommon phrase. For most people, sans serif is probably a distinction between kinds of fonts that they seldom consider. Our narrator works in it. We now know that, for the speaker, sans serif is an important consideration. Those two words make the work detailed and specific, and show that the speaker is precise and technical.

With this short sentence, the narrator has shown that they know their work, and will speak to us clearly and bluntly. 

Does the sentence contain a problem? That is not as clear. We don't yet know if working in sans serif is tedious or challenging or otherwise fraught. What this first sentence has promised is the company of a distinct, forceful, and observant voice, and the pleasure of seeing a specific life through those eyes.