Category Archives: davidbdale

Writing is not a spectator sport; it’s participatory. Editorialists come to us looking their best, engage us in eye contact, make us feel important, and ask us to dance. On the floor they lead, and if they’re good, we follow, … Continue reading →

Uncategorized Mechanics Eliminate Tags A04: Editorial Rewrite Assignment Dance Partners Writing Workshop: Cookies, Bread, and Beer The Best Possible Day

Willpower as Medicine The doctor’s goal in end-of-life care should be to facilitate the patient’s end-of-life goals. For too long, we’ve phrased the question as one with only two answers: fight a losing battle, or quit. If neither choice is … Continue reading →

They say beer is liquid bread. I don’t know who they are; after enough beer they all look alike. But they have a point. The same ingredients that make good beer—water, grain, sugar, and yeast—make good bread, or cookies, except … Continue reading →

Your fourth writing assignment is the rewrite of your third: an Editorial Rewrite that responds to feedback from your instructor, your classmates, your trusted advisers, or the free student tutors at the Writing Center. Here’s the schedule: TUE-THU class: Deadline … Continue reading →

Uncategorized Mechanics Eliminate Tags A04: Editorial Rewrite Assignment There is no right time for it is Writing Workshop: Cookies, Bread, and Beer The Best Possible Day

I could assign the same homework every day and never be wrong to require your constant effort to achieve brevity and clarity. Strunk and White, the authors of The Elements of Style, famously offered the essential writers’ advice in language … Continue reading →

There is no right time for it is Brevity and Clarity The Short Sentence HW Brevity TR

Sentence structure carries your heavy luggage. If you phrase your good ideas well, your reader hands the bags to the bellhop who takes them to the room, opens the drapes, points out the minibar, and makes the room instantly comprehensible … Continue reading →