Originally published December 28, 2017 on Quora Recently, I was contacted by an engineer in Bangalore, India who’d been reading my responses on Quora. He was impressed with my writing style. I was deeply flattered because my writing seems sophomoric, lacking depth. I cringe when I read The New Yorker, lamenting, “Why can’t I write […]
Less than two days ago, the word “covfefe” entered the English lexicon. This article isn’t about its origin or imaginary meaning, but how one word triggered hundreds of thousands of responses on social media, by the media, and at water coolers. A quick search on Google shows 5,830,000 results for a word that didn’t exist […]
(This articles was originally published on Quora) Reading my title, you may have jumped to the conclusion I’m going to share the secrets to crafting engaging, beautifully constructed prose. The puzzle of great writing solved! Alas, my title is a double entendre. The challenge of writing isn’t like a puzzle, where the pieces neatly fit […]
Several years ago, I planted bare-root strawberries at our Mount Vernon house. Purchased at a local feed store, I questioned whether they’d grow since they were nothing more than shriveled foliage with stems attached. Within weeks of planting, they awoke from their dormancy, producing beautiful foliage, and subsequently delectable strawberries and runners. Last year, there […]
It inevitably happens. Someone I work with reduces my contributions to those of “just a writer.” This proclamation is almost always delivered by a person who is not only a mediocre writer, but prone to denigrating others to divert attention away from their limited skills and accomplishments. Maybe they think I toss words into the […]
In my senior year of high school, I was on the debate team. Every year, high school forensic and debate organizations choose a topic, which is debated at local, state, and national tournaments. For 2011-2012, the topic is “The United States federal government should substantially increase its exploration and/or development of space beyond the Earth’s […]
On paper, the ultimatum “make my day,” as spoken by an incensed, gun-toting Clint Eastwood, is ho-hum unless proceeded by a paragraph or two of context. When the paragraph describes a man on his knee, begging his true love to “make his day” by accepting his hand in marriage, the ultimatum turns into an entreaty. […]
scribbles