I have so enjoyed Steven Pinker's The Sense of Style. If you are writing books or sermons, blogs or lesson plans, you will greatly benefit from his thoughts on good communication. One particularly poignant section captures the secret to good style in a simple metaphor. Pinker writes: The guiding metaphor of classic style is seeing the world. The writer can see something that the reader has not yet noticed, and he orients the reader's gaze so that she can see it for herself. The purpose … [Read more...] about The Key to Good Style
Writing
Encouragement for Writers
I enjoy writing. I like words, and I like sentences. I even appreciate grammar. But none of that means I will produce good writing. Good writing is just plain difficult to do. The other day I was re-reading my favorite pure prose writer, Annie Dillard, and she reminded me of the monumental task that is writing, just how difficult a few good sentences can be to find. Considering the average production rate of various published authors, Dillard observes: "If a full-time writer averages a … [Read more...] about Encouragement for Writers
A Great Reminder from a Great Writer
As I have worked diligently for approval from various circles of people, I have often caught myself with this quote from Nathaniel Hawthorne: "It is a good lesson - though it may often be a hard one - for a man who has dreamed of literary fame, and of making for himself a rank among the world's dignitaries by such means, to step aside out of the narrow circle in which his claims are recognized and to find how utterly devoid of significance, beyond that circle, is all that he achieves, and all … [Read more...] about A Great Reminder from a Great Writer