Greetings, dear inklings. Today’s WILAWriTWe title comes to you courtesy of the German language, directly translated with love by Yours Truly.
You see, in German, there is the word Mist. This word is what we in linguistics would call a “false friend”: It looks like it means “fine spray of water,” and yet, it means nothing of the sort…
I love my Christmas stuff. But after awhile — especially after New Year’s — it starts to become just that: stuff. It turns into clutter, and I can’t see my life through it anymore. Sometimes, dear inklings, our writing is like that…
This week, I want you to develop an excellent example of an extended metaphor. You’ll have to deal with all the problems I mentioned in last week’s article, but it gets harder because you’ll have to deal with them again and again, every time you go back to that well. You can do it, though. The whole trick is to spend some serious time thinking about your metaphor before you start, pick one that really works, and only talk about the aspects of it that do work.
Every document is, essentially, a phone call — a conversation between you and your readers, and you’ve got to establish a connection before you can start talking. I’ve said that before, haven’t I?
I’ve also said a good first draft is a block of marble, from which to carve that glorious statue known as a final manuscript. Oh, and telling instead of showing is the same thing as playing a game of poker with your cards on the table. Good document structure is a tower of red, yellow, and blue blocks. Poetry is magic, punctuation is alchemy, and so is blogging about your life.
