Several Short Sentences About Writing

by Verlyn Klinkenborg

A cliché isn’t just a familiar, overused saying. It’s the debris of someone else’s thinking,

Pay attention now: No matter how much you know or learn about syntax, grammar, and rhetoric, This small internal quaver, this inner disturbance, Is the most useful evidence you’ll ever get. Someday, you’ll be able to articulate what causes it. But for now, what’s important is to notice it. Noticing is always the goal. Actually, the goal right now is noticing that you’re noticing. One day merely noticing will be enough.

Flow is something the reader experiences, not the writer.

You want to begin the piece, not introduce it, which is the difference between a first sentence already moving at speed and a first sentence that wants to generalize while clearing its throat.

What if the reader felt your authority And thought about quoting you?