“A writer’s real work is the endless winnowing of sentences,
The relentless exploration of possibilities,
The effort, over and over again, to see in what you started out to say
The possibility of saying something you didn’t know you could.”
“Writing doesn’t prove anything,
And it only rarely persuades.
It does something much better.
It attests.
It witnesses.
It shares your interest in what you’ve noticed.
It reports on the nature of your attention.
It suggests the possibilities of the world around you.
The evidence of the world as it presents itself to you.
Proof is for mathematicians.
Logic is for philosophers.
We have testimony.”
— Verlyn Klinkenborg in Several Short Sentences on Writing
I highly recommend Klinkenborg’s short book for those looking to discover new ways for thinking about, improving, and teaching writing.
craig morehead 