On Cleaning Out My Writing Intake
If a culture war happens online and you don’t get sucked into the algorithmic vortex of it, did it make a sound?
Tagged: writing
The Boundaries and Conduits of Writing and Publishing
The human condition includes the need to be heard, and for many of us who can type, writing is one channel to speak that need.
P.J. O’Rourke (1947-2022)
Today, while the news circulated, I saw libertarians, conservatives and liberals all citing P.J. O’Rourke’s work and quoting his best lines.
Let’s Talk About Text
Ordinarily, handwriting is not on my top ten list of “Fun Stuff to Talk About.” but, something about this was different.
On Writing of Wrongs
We should understand that because of the technology of the day, we may well be the most recorded and documented generation in history.
A Reverie On Failure Part 1: Walking Into a Warm Meadow with a Leather-bound Journal
Here is my journal which I kept from October 5 to December 21, edited for readability, followed by periodic commentary.
I’ll Keep Writing, Thank You Very Much.
Sometime over the last 25-30 years, I’ve heard someone say that I wasn’t a good writer and it was said in the most emotionally damaging way.
Call Us, Maybe? Ordinary Times, By Any and All Labels Necessary
There are folks paid to write, and readers paying to read, much less than what Ordinary Times has produced daily for over a decade now.
Lawrence Lessig and Clickbait Defamation
Lessig is suing because he made multiple points in his article and the NYT made a headline out of only one of them and it wasn’t the most important point he made.
The Best of Ordinary Times 2019
This was a strong year for Ordinary Times, with contributions from many different authors. It included strong debuts from new voices and dynamite content from our regular contributors
The Value Of Writing
The ability to write, not only in the formal sense of being able to succinctly put together an argument but also in a more informal sense, is an underrated and overlooked skill.
Sunday Morning! On Reading (and reading and reading) Thomas Wolfe
On a posthumous novel by the great writer (and overwriter) from North Carolina.
In Defense of Poetry
Old poetry is laden with the baggage of centuries of hidden metaphor and archaic references. New poetry is prone to abstraction and whimsical laziness. But poetry deserves our consideration as an art form nonetheless. After all, all the music we love is poetry, and all the fun little things we can do with language are best done in poetic form.
Legal Draftsmanship, Part XIV
Submitted for your consideration, a candidate for the “unlikely sentence exemplar” award.
Language Notes From Knoxville
I see that this is a thing now. I can’t articulate a good objection to it.
But that doesn’t mean I can’t still be grumpy about it.
The Highest Profile Legal Writing Clinic Ever
The legal writing in Obergefell v. Hodges is both a model and a caution for future writers, especially those who, like lawyers, would write to persuade.
