I wasn’t feeling the whole writing vibe this morning. But I pressed on.
Sometimes, it’s just hard to write.
This morning was one of those mornings. It began with my standard morning journaling routine, notebook open and pen in hand. I wrote a single-sentence paragraph describing a mundane task ahead of me for the days, and thought, This is it. This is all I’ve got today.
Continue reading “When you’re not feeling it”Some see the ! as the comic sans of the punctuation world, a clownish affront to all who take their writing and reading seriously.
When I decided to rename this blog Andy writes! to signify its new direction, I’m sure a few readers cringed at the sight of an exclamation point in the title.
I understand. For writers, the exclamation point (hereinafter referred to as “!”) is perhaps the most maligned and most offensive of all punctuation marks. In his book Dreyer’s English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style, Benjamin Dreyer calls the ! “bossy, hectoring, and, ultimately, wearying.” In her Grammar Girl Style Guide, Mignon Fogarty, without passing judgment, advises, “Don’t overuse them.” The late Elmore Leonard, a prolific and best-selling crime novelist, laid down the law on the ! in his 10 rules for writing: “You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose.”
Continue reading “That exclamation point!”A lot of writers and other artists have a bit of Thurber in them.
Even when you’re not writing, you’re writing.
I said this recently to a writer-friend who had not been doing much writing lately. My remark was an attempt to help my friend feel better, but I’m not sure it landed as I had hoped. But I’ve thought a lot about that brief exchange, and it prompted me to elaborate on that idea.
The exchange also brought to mind this quip from author, humorist, and cartoonist James Thurber.
Continue reading “Never not writing”I never quite know when I’m not writing. Sometimes my wife comes up to me at a party and says, “Dammit, Thurber, stop writing.” She usually catches me in the middle of a paragraph.
From Conversations with James Thurber, edited by Thomas Fensch
