Making them up as I go (2)

1. Tell the truth.
2. Entice, or fail.
3. To emphasize, summarize.
4. If it ain't short, it don't work.
5. Be clear.


And so I don't forget:
Don't explain. Just tell a story.
Don't argue. Just say things that make sense.
Expect people to be bored by the writing, and shorten it.
Make the wording easy to take.

Remove Loose Ends -- the interesting one-liners that go nowhere.

Monday, September 25, 2017

The pause after "but"

I first noticed it while watching Star Trek: Next Generation. Every time Mr. Worf used the word "but" in a sentence, the pause came after the "but". These days, everybody says it that way.

The pause after "but" implies a comma after "but" in the writing. A pause before "but", where it should be, implies a comma before "but" in the writing.

THIS
but THAT
That's how I see it.

THIS but
THAT
That's how everybody else sees it.

The pause after the spoken "but" implies some kind of impending doom. Maybe that's why everybody says it that way now. With every action we take and every story we tell, impending doom awaits. Death of civilization, yes.

But guess what, guys. "Civilization dies by suicide".

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