Lord save me, I’m drinking all the good whiskey, and preaching to an empty room.

In writing I greatly value the pace of the language, which is not to be confused with the rhythm of language. The rhythm is the pattern in the sounds that the words make as they bounce off of each other, either in the readers mind, or off of the readers tongue. The pace is the speed in which readers are compelled to ingest the thought the words are pressing upon them.
The language that Raymond Carver chooses delineates an endearing, patient, honest, cautious, almost meditative pace to his wr...