Monthly Archives: November 2017

Typewriter Art?

AIGA is the professional association for design. It first stood for the American Institute of Graphic Arts, and is now known simply as AIGA. At this link is a fascinating article (external link) on people who have rendered graphic art … Continue reading

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Rent-a-Car Problem With Enterprise

I travelled to Atlanta recently and experienced something new: the rental car I reserved was not there. There were, in fact, no rental cars available from Enterprise at the airport at all. The other car rental agencies were similarly sold … Continue reading

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A New Creative Nonfiction Workshop at Berkeley Extension is Now Enrolling

David Rompf is once again teaching a creative nonfiction workshop through Berkeley Extension. Instruction starts January 23d and runs through April 17th. At this blog I’ve written several times about creative nonfiction as a genre and my experience with the … Continue reading

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Battling “Was” and “Is” (Again)

I think “was” and “is” deaden sentences. I’ve written about this before (internal link). Here are some more examples with my suggested revisions. The fort was built to guard against Indian attacks. They built the fort to guard against Indian … Continue reading

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Writing Another Book Proposal

I just submitted a magazine article two weeks ahead of deadline. Yay me! Now, I can turn to writing a book proposal that an editor asked me to develop. I short queried first, taking no more than twenty minutes to … Continue reading

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The Literary Press World, The Needs of an Editor, and the Virtue of Reading Blind

I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of … Continue reading

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Musings on Readability and Consistency

Shorter sentences tend to be more readable than long ones. Since I usually write long sentences in my first drafts (a part of brainstorming, writing whatever comes to mind), my revisions find me breaking those long sentences into shorter ones. … Continue reading

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Can You Sell Confusion?

“I am circling around God, around the ancient tower, and I have been circling for a thousand years, and I still don’t know if I am a falcon, or a storm, or a great song.” Rainer Maria Rilke, Rainer Maria Rilke’s … Continue reading

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Back From The Mojave Desert — More Thoughts on Flying A Drone

I’m back from the Mojave Desert where I was researching an article. I flew my drone three times, all successfully. I’ve written about buying and flying a drone before (internal link). A few more thoughts. Quite honestly, I am often … Continue reading

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