“A writer should seriously consider the use of drawings, maps, and other nonword ways to make a point. Sometimes, no mot is juste.” – Francis Flaherty, The Elements of Story
Mourning into Dancing
You have turned for me my mourning into dancing…
That my soul may sing praise to You and not be silent.
Psalm 30:11-2 (NASB)
Write Right: Amount and Number
Amount and number are both words that relate to quantity. The former refers to a singular item that can’t be counted. The latter requires a plural noun that can be counted. Let’s use stories to illustrate their use.
Mountains out of Mole Hills
The problem with perfectionists, albeit not the only one, is that they make mountains out of mole hills. A failure to rise to the occasion. A moment of stupidity. An error that not even an eighteen-year-old rookie writer should or would have made.
Better or Worse
Writing for a client is like going to the optometrist. I turn in a draft. They send it back with requested revisions and edits. I revise the copy, return it, and ask, “Better or worse?”
Write Right and the Ides of March
