W riting is ultimately a test of thinking. It’s simple: just put the right words in the right order. Then, do it again, and again, and again until you’re done.
Or maybe it’s not so simple. It is not until we begin to write that we recognize, perhaps, that our thinking is not as well ordered as we originally believed. It is not until we, or someone else, reads our words that we recognize perhaps some of our words are not as right as we wanted to believe. And it is not until we convince ourselves we are done that we come to see that neither our words nor their order are as perfect, clear and rich as we desperately wished to believe.
Despite all that, we write. Either we must, or we want. And the thoughts and words and the order keeps coming.
My writing – anything worth reading, that is – began at newspapers. News stories, narratives, commentaries, analyses. From there, it continued inside a large corporation. Press releases, memos, presentations, speeches. Then, with a bit more time, came TV news, more commentaries, magazine articles, more speeches, curricula, and books.
It is a great way to make a living – and I don’t recommend it to anyone.
Click on anything below to see some samples.