Writing Advice from the 18th Century
“True ease in writing comes from art, not chance, As those move easiest who have learn’d to dance.” –Alexander Pope (1688-1744) From “An Essay on Criticism”
Category: Get Me Rewrite
An Apostrophe Catastrophe
Mother’s Day. Patriots’ Day. Veterans Day. I’ve had to use all three in recent writings and spent more than a few minutes trying to figure out where–and whether–to use the apostrophe. So I found this piece in The Wall Street Journal especially …
For Attribution: Mother’s Day
“She brought you forth out of the cloud of genetics and fed and clothed you and taught you to wipe yourself and say Please and Thank you and never expected you to pay her back, only that you behave appropriately …
For Attribution: An Injured War Photographer’s Words to Boston Bombing Victims
There are two kinds of reporters in television news. The ones who make themselves the boring, cookie-cutter center of every story. And the ones who know how to step aside and use quotes, sound, images–plus a few choice words of …
For Attribution: An Injured War Photographer’s Words to Boston Bombing Victims Read more »
For Attribution: Messing With the Wrong City
From an Op-Ed in The New York Times by author and Boston native Dennis Lehane: But I do love this city. I love its atrocious accent, its inferiority complex in terms of New York, its nut-job drivers, the insane logic of …
O Sweet Spontaneous Earth
by e. e. cummings O sweet spontaneous earth how often have the doting fingers of prurient philosophers pinched and poked thee , has the naughty thumb of science prodded thy beauty . how often have religions taken thee upon their scraggy knees squeezing …
The Jig is Up (The Reel Deal About Irish Music)
St. Patrick’s Day comes but once a year, but real aficionados of Irish music will tell you that good craic can be found all year long. (Why, we’re writing this from the Landmark Tavern, est. 1868, in New York City, …
Everyone Makes Mistakes (But You Don’t Have To)
A colleague recently sent out a plaintive missive, noting that he’d been severely chastised by his boss for all the typos in his emails. He was begging a close circle of friends to help him get better. This got me …
You Must Remember This:
“Digital platforms are worthless without content. They’re shiny sacks with bells and whistles, but without content, they’re empty sacks. It is not about pixels versus print. It is not about how you’re reading. It is about what you’re reading.” –Maureen …
Tap. Tap tap. Tap.
In case you are wondering what that background is on our website (we’re talking to you, junior), The Wall Street Journal explains all.