You’d know what I mean, and a quick word of thanks…

So how’s this for a sentence?

You’d know what I mean, if you knew what I meant, if you know what I mean.

Cool, eh?

Now, before you go thinking I’m some upstart young writer bragging about some sensational sentence I’ve just written – you’d be wrong…

I’m not young.

But, as well as that, this is not a sentence I wrote. This is a sentence I spoke. And – importantly – when I did so it was very much in context and made complete and utter sense to those who heard me say it – admittedly with some visual aid in the form of body language. It was actually concerning a belt loop on my trousers.

All the numbers are lining up, which means what exactly…?

So this week it seemed that all the numbers on my blog lined up. In fact, it all happened on the very same day:

First I celebrated my one-year anniversary of How Do You Pronounce Eynon; then I bagged my 200th follower; then I posted my 70th post. Those babies all seem nice and tidy to me, and none of it was planned.

Is this portentous? Maybe; maybe not. All I know for sure is that it made me smile, and that’s always a good thing.

So, while I am in this realm of getting all my ducks in a row, perhaps a lottery win wouldn’t go amiss.. all I need to do now is go and buy a ticket.

Thanks for reading… I mean it.

I get this… but I just don’t GET it

Part four of my series that looks to apply every single rule from Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style to my manuscript. Today, rules 9, 10 & 11.

First of all, I shall admit that these last few rules on Elementary Rules of Usage are, for me, quite a ways from being elementary. In other words, I don’t really understand them. I can study rule 9 and place it into the context of my manuscript, but the others…? We’ll see.

A few more sage words of advice…

So yesterday I posted a quote a from Colum McCann that I found in a Q&A at the back of his book Let the Great Word Spin. 

Slightly remiss of me was to leave out the question from Nathan Englander that actually prompted this response, which is a brilliant quote in-of-itself:

Authorial intent doesn’t much matter once the book is out there. If I write a funny, happy story, and all it ever does is make people cry – well then it’s a sad story, whether I agree or not. What the reader sees on the page is what’s there.

Nathan Englander.

Sage words of advice from an awesome author…

So I’ve just finished the astounding book Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann, and while this is not a book review, I shall take second to advise anyone to read it:

Go read this book. It’s brilliant.

Done.

Anyway, at the back of this novel is a Q&A session with the author where he says this about his readers:

“As writers we have to respect and like our readers. I want to acknowledge that they have taken a chance and that, more than likely they’re smarter than me, or more courageous, or at the very least they will continue the book further than I can. They can complete the story.”

Colum McCann

This is wonderful quote that I think any writer should take note of. Hence the reason I stuck it in a post.

Thanks for reading.