Quiller-Couch, Sir Arthur. 1916. On the Art of Writing

Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch delivered a series of lectures On the Art of Writing to the young gentlemen of the University of Cambridge in 1913-14. I've been dipping into his remarks recently, and hit this famous quotation from his lecture "On Style":

To begin with, let me plead that you have been told of one or two things which Style is not; which have little or nothing to do with Style, though sometimes vulgarly mistaken for it. Style, for example, is not--can never be--extraneous Ornament. You remember, may be, the Persian lover whom I quoted to you out of Newman: how to convey his passion he sought a professional letter-writer and purchased a vocabulary charged with ornament, wherewith to attract the fair one as with a basket of jewels. Well, in this extraneous, professional, purchased ornamentation, you have something which Style is not: and if you here require a practical rule of me, I will present you with this: "Whenever you feel an impulse to perpetrate a piece of exceptionally fine writing, obey it--whole-heartedly--and delete it before sending your manuscript to press. Murder your darlings." [my emphasis]

How often I've murdered my own darlings! Sarcastic phrases, flights of fancy, self-righteous phrases . . . all left on the editing floor. I just worry about the times I failed to exercise sufficient self-discipline.

A.Word.A.Day--Today's Word: "resistentialism"

Know how your printer always breaks down when you have to submit a paper to a professor in 15 minutes? Or how about when your computer eats the diskette with the only copy of your research paper on it? Or when you lose your Internet connection in the middle of a WebCT quiz?

Resistentialism explains it all: "The theory that inanimate objects demonstrate hostile behavior against us" (A.Word.A.Day).

F u t u r e M e . o r g

Using FutureMe.org, you can send an email to your future self. Kind of a personal time capsule. The possibilities are tantalizing:

Dear FutureMe, Well, a year ago you said you were going to lose 10 pounds by today. Tell me: were you faithful?

Dear FutureMe, Remember how you said six years ago that you could hardly wait until the kids were grown up and out of the house? How's that empty nest syndrome going?

Dear FutureMe, You should receive this on New Year's Eve one year from now. Suggestion: don't mix your liquors this year!

Finally, the problem of sending yourself a birthday e-card can solved once and for all.

Science & Technology at Scientific American.com: Banished Thoughts Resurface in Dreams

Today in my face-to-face composition class, a student told me about a bad dream in which she wasn't able to turn in her paper on meningococcal meningitis because she had contracted the disease itself. Horrible dream!

Seredipity led me to this article from ScientificAmerican.com that may explain the phenomenon: "Dreams are where our thoughts go when we try to put the thoughts out of mind."

Pepys's Diary: "The Diary of Samuel Pepys"

Too wonderful! Phil Gyford has turned The Diary of Samuel Pepys into a weblog. Pepys lived in London in the latter half of the 17th c. and faithfully wrote in his diary everyday. His connections were extensive, so through his diary we see the events of his time, both large and small. He chronicled the Plague and the Great Fire, but he also wrote about what he had for dinner and his amorous adventures.

Gyford reproduces Pepys's diary entries in a daily weblog. Yesterday's entry, for instance, is for Monday 25 March 1661. If Pepys had lived with the Internet, I know he'd have done the same.

I intend to become a daily reader.

In an article from the Philadelphia Inquirer, novelist William Gibson (Neuromancer, Johnny Mnemonic, Pattern Recognition), talks about his writing process. It sounds familiar to me:

The creative process for him has two stages. The writing is preceded by a long period of "sitting grumpily, staring out the window." That explains why his nine books, all of which are still in print, have appeared at unpredictable intervals. "The typing on the keyboard takes about a year. The staring out the window can be any length of time and is usually harder." He's now grumpily contemplating his next novel, another present-day tale.

"Grumpily contemplating" . . . how true of many of us writers!

Wisdom from the Grammar Goddess: Comma Sense

A nice, clean, clear guide to commas . . . for all of you who still get the willies just thinking about them.

Casper Student Dies of Meningitis

Today's Billing's Gazette reports that a student at Casper College died of bacterial meningitis on Tuesday. According to the article, Casper College is offering preventative antibiotics to the other residents of the girl's hall.

A little close to home, isn't it?

The Casper Star-Tribune version of this story refers readers to the CDC web site for more information and provides two additional links: Meningitis Research Foundation and Meningitis Foundation of America.

Use technology to create an outline . . .

One of the lovely features available in word processing programs is the automatic outline feature. Most students use MS Word, and here are the directions on how to create an outline using Word:

1. In a new document, switch to outline view.

2. Type each heading and press ENTER.
Microsoft Word formats the headings with the built-in heading style Heading 1.

3. To assign a heading to a different level and apply the corresponding heading style, place the insertion point in the heading, and then click Promote or Demote on the Outlining toolbar until the heading is at the level you want.

4. To move a heading to a different location, place the insertion point in the heading, and then click Move Up or Move Down on the Outlining toolbar until the heading is moved where you want it to go. (The subordinate text under the heading moves with the heading.)

5. When you're satisfied with the organization, switch to normal view or print layout view to add detailed body text and graphics.

Tip

You can also rearrange text by dragging the outline symbols . . . for the headings and body text up or down or to the left or right. When you drag a heading's symbol, the subheadings and body text under it also move or change levels.

As you drag, Word displays a vertical line at each heading level. Release the mouse button to assign the text to the new level. Word applies the corresponding heading style to the heading, or applies the Normal style to body text.

Hypergraphia--compulsive writing

At the end of January, I heard an interesting clip on NPR about hypergraphia, "The Midnight Disease." As NPR says,

Many authors fear writer's block. But its opposite -- hypergraphia, the driving compulsion to write -- can be equally debilitating. A new book called The Midnight Disease considers the relationship between the wiring of the brain, writing and creativity. NPR's Renee Montagne talks with author and neurologist Alice Flaherty.

It's an interesting interview. Who knew that a person actually could write too much???

As any ethical writer knows, when you quote someone, you don't leave out words to distort the original quotation according to your own ends.

Here's a lovely example of what NOT to do from The New Republic Online: "The Art of the Well-Placed Ellipsis."

Happily for students of writing everywhere, the '04 Presidential Campaign seems to be heating up early. During the months ahead, I anticipate finding lots of examples of what not to do with words (from all political parties).

Quoted from Letters Sent to Romenesko, 09Mar04, Poynteronline, Forums:

From MAURICE POSSLEY, reporter, Chicago Tribune: Subject -- The lead of the day -- candidate #1. From this morning's Missoulian, on a story about a sewer project:

"Like something in the toilet that just won't flush, a plan to bring public sewer to several Rattlesnake neighborhoods failed to find resolution at Monday night's City Council meeting."

I've heard of ways to describe a piece of legislation, but this is a doozy. Read that one over your scrambled eggs and sausage.