Shorts #2

For anyone interested in writing, I recommend Stephen King’s On Writing, and The Deer on a Bicycle by Patrick McManus as an interesting compare/contrast study of the “how I got this way” story from two very different authors and humans. Integral to that story is how they each wound up making money at it, which is an entirely different kettle of fish to simply writing. For anyone interested in the mechanics of writing, I recommend Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style, which I still regard as the best everyday style manual. Yes, I learned the Chicago Style Manual out of necessity, but I remember Elements of Style. “Never use two words when one word will do,” advised Strunk & White. “Never use a long word when a short word will do.” Which agrees with something a prominent attorney included in a comment on something I’d written for the PSO Musicians’ newsletter. As he told his junior lawyers often when reviewing their legal briefs, always mind your ABCs.

Advocacy

Brevity

Clarity