“Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all sentences short or avoid all detail and treat subjects only in outline, but that every word tell.”
– William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White, The Elements of Style
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“It’s almost more like I join a band when I produce a record. But, I’m unlike all the other members of the band, who each have their own personal agenda. The bass player is concerned about the bass part; everyone is concerned about their own part. I’m the only member of the band that doesn’t care about any of those particulars. I just care that the whole thing is as good as it can be.”
– Rick Rubin, quoted in Rick Rubin in the Studio by Jake Brown
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What do I have to do to make this the best that I can do?
My writing has its own personality: I don’t want to stifle it with harsh editing. I am not interested in perfect grammar. My sentences don’t need perfect pitch to speak.
Perhaps one could type some prompts into Chat GPT to create a daily blog that selects two quotes and some commentary. My creative work could be outsourced. But my source cannot be replicated. All the things I have ingested over my life give my mind it’s unique fingerprint.
I want to convey how I think and feel. What I see. Stream of conscious observation would become pretty tiresome, so I also need to be an editor.
I must focus on making this the best it can be. I need a part of myself who can be objective: only concerned with making the best sentence; not keeping all the seemingly wonderful ideas and turns of phrase that can crowd in.
A goal: to write like I’m climbing a mountain. Tight sentences, like the methodical steps taken to reach the top. But at any time I can pause to take in the view. There must be space around the words. And there is a purpose to this: a summit to lead the reader to.
Can I honestly say this is as good as it gets?
Perhaps it is for today. And that is all that matters.
Whatever I have achieved here, it is good training for tomorrow’s climb.
Conversations With Quotations 