Hi Yo, Highlighter Away!

In the absences of any student blog posts to put up (hint, hint), I thought I'd sneak in here with one more update on what I thought was good material from "On Writing Well," Chapter 21, a good one to read as you settle in to finish your final projects for this quarter.

Facing writer's block? Take a look at Page 243:

"The blank piece of paper or the blank computer screen, waiting to be filled with our wonderful words, can freeze us into not writing any words at all, or writing words that are less than wonderful. I'm often dismayed by the sludge I see appearing on my screen if I approach writing as a task -- the day's work -- and not with some enjoyment. My only consolation is that I'll get another shot at those dismal sentences tomorrow and the next day and the day after. With each rewrite I try to force my personality onto the material."

A note here that as far as I'm concerned, you have until Dec. 19 to console yourself day after day with your final projects.

Continuing in the chapter, there's a good reminder about the importance of accuracy:

"Because authors of fiction are writing about a world of their own invention, often in an allusive style that they have also invented . . . we have no right to tell them, 'That's wrong.' We can only say, 'It doesn't work for me.' Nonfiction writers get no such break. . . With every inaccuracy of reporting and every misstep of craft we can say, 'That's wrong.' "

You should be past the stages of picking a subject to write about and conducting interviews, but here's some good advice on those fronts:

"If you want your writing to convey enjoyment, write about people you respect. . . think broadly about your assignment . . .Push the boundaries of your subject and see where it takes you. Bring some part of your own life to it; it's not your version of the story until you write it."

By the way, I don't consider the above open rein on writing in the first person. Your voice, your style, even your selection of what to include makes it your version of the story without the first person pronoun.

On interviewing:

"Often you'll get your best material after you put your pencil away, in the chitchat of leave taking. The person being interviewed, off the hook after the hard work of making his or her life presentable to a stranger, thinks of a few important afterthoughts."

I like this as general encouragement for the writer:

"If you master the tools of the trade -- the fundamentals of interviewing and of orderly construction -- and if you bring to the assignment your general intelligence and your humanity, you can write about any subject. That's your ticket to an interesting life."