Monday, August 23, 2004
Scripto, ergo sum
By The Erudite Redneck
"People can't write because they can't think."
-- H.L. Mencken
That is the only writing about writing that I've ever really relied on as a writer. But it's just the starting point. Conjugate the idea.
People who write well think clearly. People who write succinctly have thought things through. People who write disjointed copy have disjointed thoughts -- and need to think some more. People who write poorly think poorly. You can go on and on.
The quote is somewhere in The Diary of H.L. Mencken, edited by Charles A Fecher (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1989), but I can't tell you where. The simplicity of the idea struck me so hard when I first read it back in '89 that I've never forgotten it. I've never had to find it again.
Scripto, ergo sum? "I write, therefore I am."
END
"People can't write because they can't think."
-- H.L. Mencken
That is the only writing about writing that I've ever really relied on as a writer. But it's just the starting point. Conjugate the idea.
People who write well think clearly. People who write succinctly have thought things through. People who write disjointed copy have disjointed thoughts -- and need to think some more. People who write poorly think poorly. You can go on and on.
The quote is somewhere in The Diary of H.L. Mencken, edited by Charles A Fecher (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1989), but I can't tell you where. The simplicity of the idea struck me so hard when I first read it back in '89 that I've never forgotten it. I've never had to find it again.
Scripto, ergo sum? "I write, therefore I am."
END
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Dang. That about sums it up. I think I've fallen into all of those categories at one time or another. Sadly, most of the time, the latter. My mind feels like molasses today.
Hang in there. The ONLY andidote to not wanting to write, or not writing well temporarily -- assuming ya think clearly most of the time -- is to write anyway!
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