Valves, Valvoline, and singing circuits
I borrowed Walter Isaacson’s Elon Musk from the library. “I want to learn more about our next president,” I told the librarian. She laughed.
How to improve writing (no. 126)
A conjunction that makes no sense.
ChatGPT and a forklift
Ted Chiang: “Using ChatGPT to complete assignments is like bringing a forklift into the weight room; you will never improve your cognitive fitness that way.”
How to improve writing (no. 125)
“He typically mentions the fictional serial killer in the context of immigration, claiming without evidence that migrants are coming in from insane asylums and mental institutions and often using dehumanizing language.”
How to improve writing (no. 124)
“What she did not say is that you can’t make friends of 50 years when you are in your ninth decade, the kind who knew you way back when.”
Writing on a train
From The Narrow Margin: a train with a writing desk for passenger use.
How to improve writing (no. 123)
Subject and verb should always agree. Sheesh, NY Times.
Fran Lebowitz at the Morgan Library
“When you look at manuscripts or letters and they’re written in the hand of the writer, you are closer to that writer, you’re closer to the person”
Off the bot
In response to a comment from Matthew Schmeer that describes inventive assignments to keep students from turning in AI-generated writing, I came up with a phrase that I’d like to share: “off the bot,” after “off the grid.” I am thinking and writing off the bot.
How to improve writing (no. 122)
“Pitch in today for a chance to meet myself,” etc.
How I write certain of my blog posts
I’m always interested in seeing the materials of writing, so I thought it’d be interesting to show the materials that went into a post about Anne Curzan’s Says Who? A Kinder, Funner Usage Guide for Everyone Who Cares about Words. Why not? A notebook, gel pen, blue pencil, legal pad, fountain pen, and text editor.
Handwriting vs. typing
Old news by now, I’d say, but still news: “Why writing by hand beats typing for thinking and learning” (NPR).
How to improve writing (no. 121)
It makes better sense to arrange the elements in order of their severity.
How to improve writing (no. 120)
There are, not is, plans.
Recently updated
It’s difficult to improve writing when you’re angry.
How to improve writing (no. 118)
“What’s in Store for the Future of Higher Education?”: that’s the subject line in an e-mail from The Chronicle of Higher Education .
Phrase of the day: cacoëthes scribendi
“An uncontrollable urge to write.”
Joe and me and I
Who writes this stuff? And who approves it?
“Writer-y”
From Zits.
iA Writer is not AI
A college prof bans iA Writer. But iA Writer is not an app for AI-generated prose.
How to improve writing (no. 116)
The target of a plot is not at its center.
How to improve writing (no. 115)
One of Joe and my favorite parts about being on the campaign trail is meeting supporters just like you.
The World’s Writing Systems
A beautiful use of the Internet: The World’s Writing Systems.
How to improve writing (no. 114)
A sentence from the NYT.
“In conclusion”
Today’s Zits: a mild exaggeration of how some students think about writing.
“And again meanings interlock”
From Italo Calvino, The Castle of Crossed Destinies.
How to improve writing (no. 113)
A New York Times obituary opens with a sentence that tries to say too much.
How to improve writing (no. 112)
I made it almost through a New York Times article, and then I hit this single-sentence paragraph.
How to improve writing (no. 111)
I wrote a letter yesterday to the CEO an insurance company about the 109 minutes I spent on the phone trying to find out why a payment didn’t go through. Here’s how I made the first paragraph better.
How to lay off of Josh Marshall
But now that I know that Josh Marshall doesn’t write, I’m going to lay offa him.