“I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what.”

– Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

~Daniel

“A writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.”

-Thomas Mann

~Daniel

If you have any young friends who aspire to become writers, the second greatest favor you can do them is to present them with copies of The Elements of Style. The first greatest, of course, is to shoot them now, while they’re happy.

– Dorothy Parker

~Daniel

Logocracy

(loh-GOK-rah-cee)

Noun.

A community or system of government in which words are the ruling powers.

Origin: Greek.

Greek λόγος (logos) – “word” and from κράτος (kratos) – to “govern”.

~Daniel

“You don’t write because you want to say something, you write because you have something to say.”

-F. Scott Fitzgerald

~Daniel

Cite examples.

Why it matters. Text without examples is dull and not credible. Text with examples comes alive.

Why you lack examples. Examples come from research, which is work. They make you pause and think as you’re writing, which slows you down.

How to fix it. For a piece of any length, plan to spend half the writing time doing research first. If you can’t get an actual example, use a hypothetical. If possible, cite a person who did something, not just a company.

Source: withoutbullshit.com

~Daniel

Hubris

ˈ(h)yo͞obrəs/

Noun.

excessive pride or self-confidence.

Synonyms: arrogance, conceit, haughtiness, hauteur, pride, self-importance

Origin: Greek

Special meaning: (in Greek tragedy) excessive pride toward or defiance of the gods, leading to nemesis.

~Daniel

“If Something Isn’t Working, if you have a story that you’ve built and it’s blocked and you can’t figure it out, take your favorite scene, or your very best idea or set-piece, and cut it. It’s brutal, but sometimes inevitable.”

– Joss Whedon

~Daniel

“Always carry a note-book. And I mean always. The short-term memory only retains information for three minutes; unless it is committed to paper you can lose an idea for ever.” — Will Self

~Daniel

Adjective.

of or relating to agriculture or rural life.

Synonyms: agrarian, bucolic, homey, provincial, rural, pastoral, arcadian,

Origin: Greek

early 16th century: via Latin from Greek geōrgikos, from geōrgos ‘farmer.’

~Daniel