Books
Supposedly my parents could hardly wait until I could read for myself. I don't know about that as it is so long now since I acquired that skill.
I also allegedly badgered my Mom for the latest Little Golden Book when those were available at our grocery store, and of course selected comic books--all of which have found their way to the hands of others.
I have enjoyed acquiring books of various kinds over the years, but the time came to start letting go last year.
Now I have the pleasure of considering new homes for my old friends--a painful process but a necessary one.
I am taking a break from that to write this short post.
Monday, March 11, 2013
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Some Quotes on Language and Writing
Some Quotes on Language and Writing
Mark Hopkins said, "Language is the picture and counterpart of thought."
Claude Levi-Strauss observed, "Language is a form of human reason and has its reasons which are unknown to man."
Ludwig Wittgenstein commented, "The limits of my language means the limits of my world."
Mark Twain noted, "The difference between the right word and the nearly right word is the same as that between lightning and the lightning bug."
Sheridan Baker proposed, "Grammar gives you command of language; logic, command of thought; rhetoric command of men."
William Faulkner claimed, "A writer needs three things, experience, observation and imagination, any two of which, at times any one of which, can supply the lack of the others."
William Zinsser emphasized, "Writing well means believing in your writing and believing in yourself, taking risks, daring to be different, pushing yourself to excel. You will write only as well as you make yourself write."
Mark Hopkins said, "Language is the picture and counterpart of thought."
Claude Levi-Strauss observed, "Language is a form of human reason and has its reasons which are unknown to man."
Ludwig Wittgenstein commented, "The limits of my language means the limits of my world."
Mark Twain noted, "The difference between the right word and the nearly right word is the same as that between lightning and the lightning bug."
Sheridan Baker proposed, "Grammar gives you command of language; logic, command of thought; rhetoric command of men."
William Faulkner claimed, "A writer needs three things, experience, observation and imagination, any two of which, at times any one of which, can supply the lack of the others."
William Zinsser emphasized, "Writing well means believing in your writing and believing in yourself, taking risks, daring to be different, pushing yourself to excel. You will write only as well as you make yourself write."
Monday, July 23, 2012
Books I am reading
Books I am reading include
The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction by Alan Jacobs
Lit! A Christian Guide to Reading Books by Tony Reinke
If you do not have these, invest in them.
The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction by Alan Jacobs
Lit! A Christian Guide to Reading Books by Tony Reinke
If you do not have these, invest in them.
Friday, May 11, 2012
What all writing does and does not have in common
What all writing has in common
you must pay attention to your audience
you must pay attention to your purpose
you must pay attention to your word choice
you must pay attention to your structure
you must pay attention to your responsibilities as a writer
Where writing can change
audiences vary
purposes vary
word choice varies
structure varies
What remains the same for writers
responsibilities remain
you must pay attention to your audience
you must pay attention to your purpose
you must pay attention to your word choice
you must pay attention to your structure
you must pay attention to your responsibilities as a writer
Where writing can change
audiences vary
purposes vary
word choice varies
structure varies
What remains the same for writers
responsibilities remain
Thursday, March 1, 2012
A Blank Reflection
A Blank Reflection
Here I sit before the computer screen as blank as
A sheet of paper in my first typewriter yea eons ago
And now as then
Wrestle with words
And thoughts
And all comes naughts
Here as I sit before the computer screen as blank
Here I sit before the computer screen as blank as
A sheet of paper in my first typewriter yea eons ago
And now as then
Wrestle with words
And thoughts
And all comes naughts
Here as I sit before the computer screen as blank
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Diction
Diction
is not just
a chapter in a freshman "comp." book,
is life, power,gender, community,
beyond/within the poet's provenance
words are alive, oxygenated dance
within the bloody brain
make all more plain
like/as (take your choice grammarian
on the plain Sumerian)
the thoughtless immortality
of the child cocooned within each adult
words whiz
do their own "biz"
come and go and trample meaning
when one is attempting gleaning
how elusive words can be--
even for one such as (sic) me.
is not just
a chapter in a freshman "comp." book,
is life, power,gender, community,
beyond/within the poet's provenance
words are alive, oxygenated dance
within the bloody brain
make all more plain
like/as (take your choice grammarian
on the plain Sumerian)
the thoughtless immortality
of the child cocooned within each adult
words whiz
do their own "biz"
come and go and trample meaning
when one is attempting gleaning
how elusive words can be--
even for one such as (sic) me.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Writer's Block
Writer's Block
No words now
Which form poem, or prose.
This drought every writer knows.
So I'll wait it out
And the words will come
Some
Later
Time
As prose or rhyme.
(originally written 21 August 1999)
No words now
Which form poem, or prose.
This drought every writer knows.
So I'll wait it out
And the words will come
Some
Later
Time
As prose or rhyme.
(originally written 21 August 1999)
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