At the
Trident Bookstore in Boston? My eye happened upon a title I hadn’t seen or read about. No advance notice, just there, at a bookstore.
Good Writing co-authored by a personal favorite, Anne Lamott.
Can it capture the essence, and can one be married to a partner that comes all rolled up with 35 writing guidelines?
“Writing is a vehicle for my life to play out.” Page 14.
I’ve borrowed a similar expression to explain a personal obsession.
“Luckily, I was still drinking at the time.” Page 35.
Editors. What can I say? If you don’t need a reason to drink, find a good editor.
Terminology:
The single word? “Enthymeme,” which refers to a kind of logical exposition that really isn’t as logical, and an example I’ve enumerated for decades, in my horoscopes.
The lessons? Chapters? The organization is a single tip, 35 in all, and each tip is posited by her husband and then discussed amongst themselves which makes for lively back and forth and wondrous good content, as much about relation as rules. Guidelines.
On character?
“was a funny writer who (like most writers) had equal proportions of grandiosity and shaky self-esteem.” Page 107.
Seeing it in print, when a characterization fits me so well.
“Isn’t the whole point of writing to figure out something you don’t already know?” Page 134.
That is the point of the bulk of my writing.
While other’s nothing new or groundbreaking, as a concise guide to what makes good writing better, as a way to improve craft? The handy guidelines work well, and framed in conversational manner where some points are discussed but not always agreed upon.
