Reading and writing in the dark
From E.T.A. Hoffmann, The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr.
Writing it and changing it
John Kander: “The ideas can be terrible, and nobody is a bad person because they have it. So you write it, and then you change it.”
Out the window
A sentence from Josh Marshall that would make a fine sixth exhibit in George Orwell’s “Politics and the English Language.”
Longhand and a Smith-Corona
Robert Caro slows down the work of writing.
Editing
Words from Robert Gottlieb and Bryan Garner.
Taped to the lamp
The lamp belongs to Robert Caro.
When writers go on strike
DeSantis and Musk: that’s the kind of laughably crappy storyline you’re left with when writers go on strike.
Writing materials
Dolly Parton, writing with whatever she has at hand.
How to improve writing (no. 110)
It never fails: or, rather, it always fails. I look at Talking Points Memo and I end up tinkering with one or more sentences from Josh Marshall.
How to improve writing (no. 109)
“He is a proud father of daughter X, son-in-law Y, two granddaughters, and daughter, Z all residing in Michigan.”
Friends blogging, blogging friends
Fresca improved a paragraph by Adam Gopnik. Slywy found an abandoned general store, and its history.
How to improve writing (no. 108)
As I’ve written in a previous post, “Every time I look at Josh Marshall’s Talking Points Memo, I end up rewriting one or more sentences.”
How to improve writing (no. 107)
Follow the logic of chronology.
“Raucous go-go”
You know what Robert Caro says: Turn every page. Thus I found myself looking at a David Brooks profile of Bono in the December Atlantic, “The Too-Muchness of Bono.”
A reader wonders about books about writing
Recommendations and non-recommendations.
How to improve writing (no. 106)
I was going to quote a sentence from The New York Times this morning until I realized how awful it was.
How to improve writing (no. 105)
“Writing should be regarded as an activity that necessitates critical thinking, an aspect that is necessary to all good writing.”
SCOOP: Musk’s next move
Smart Brevity is neither smart nor brief.
Recently updated
How to improve writing (no. 104), now with more improvement.
How to improve writing (no. 104)
“One man stood on the bridge, which crosses the Intracoastal Waterway, holding the American flag upside down — widely recognized as a symbol of his belief that the country is in distress.” Needs rewriting.
Ulp
Bryan Garner: “If your work requires writing, then your work is no better than your writing.”
How to improve writing (no. 103)
A sentence in need of help, from a New York Times obituary for Margaret Keane, painter of big-eyed children.
How to improve writing (no. 102)
Diminutive but impactful? Nah.
Roger Angell (1920–2022)
One of the regrets of my teaching life is that I never found an occasion for asking students to read Angell’s 2014 essay about old age, “This Old Man.”
How to improve writing (no. 101)
Put things where they belong.
Editing in Zits
Say “Thanks, Mom.”
How to improve writing (no. 100)
"It is unclear what the inspector general has done since then, in particular, whether the inspector general has referred the matter to the Justice Department”: a terrible sentence from The New York Times.
Garamond
Does a font make your words look better?
“Why Simple Is Smart”
Derek Thompson, who coined the terms “workism,” “hygiene theater,” and “everything shortage,” offers advice for writing nonfiction.
How to improve writing (no. 99)
“In your opinion, are Republican candidates in midterm elections who have received former President Trump’s endorsement more likely or less likely to win their primary races than Republican candidates who did not?”