Just Good Writing

[paul cowley]

.there always be some good writing going on....that's why I come here.....plus it keeps me out of bars....and when I see a thread that says peter pallotta....it glows like neon.

[Joe Hancock]

.there always be some good writing going on....that's why I come here.....plus it keeps me out of bars....and when I see a thread that says peter pallotta....it glows like neon.

Damn straight there is.......

You were needed about 4 bad puns ago. All your fault.

Joe

[John Kirk]

It glows like neon, buzzing softly in the warm summer dusk, as I fumble in vain for my mashie; I clutch its pliable hickory shaft in my sweating hands when I notice the graceful grain of the wood, the imperfections glowing like neon in the dusk, and I....

[Jimbo]

there always be some good writing going on....that's why I come here.....

viva GCA

[George Pazin]

However, in general when somebody is all bottled up like that, I point out that nobody cares about your golf game, only their own.

There are many OT threads on this site that would imply otherwise.

Economy of writing is an odd issue. When you cut too much, you tend to be dismissed. Or not sufficiently clear. There is a happy medium between absolute economy and overly expansive; I think Updike comes pretty close to the ideal in this little passage.

[Scott Sander]

This conversation prompted me to hunt down a recent column from our local alternative newspaper/ad sheet.

The gist of it is that the writer once asked Updike a timely if unexpected question and got a fairly remarkable response. 

http://www.nuvo.net/opinion/article/shadow-spiritual-crisis

What strikes me, as it relates to this discussion, is how much Updike's extemporaneous speech mirrors his written work.

I've met many writers -a few of them good- and very, very few truly speak with the same weight/tone/style/flair/humopr/gravitas/whatever-it-is that they manage to wring out of a keyboard.  Love Updike's style or loathe it, at the very least it seemed to come from an authentic voice.   

IMHO, natch.

[Joe Hancock]

Economy of writing is an odd issue. When you cut too much, you tend to be dismissed.

That's me.

[Dan Kelly]

Economy of writing is an odd issue. When you cut too much, you tend to be dismissed.

That's me.

Who?

[Joe Hancock]

Economy of writing is an odd issue. When you cut too much, you tend to be dismissed.

That's me.

Who?

You win.

[Rich Goodale]

http://www.nuvo.net/opinion/article/shadow-spiritual-crisis

Thanks for the above, Scott.  It was very good,--both Updike's off the cuff comments and the interviewers piece wrapped around it.

[George Pazin]

From the linked article (thanks for the link):

So while the literary world mourned a brilliant writer last month, I silently gave thanks to a brief moment of illumination that came so effortlessly for him.

I think I disagree with this comment, or at least what I infer from it.

The great ones make things look effortless, but that is almost always because they have spent endless hours for numerous years toiling to make it appear that way. I think it is both misleading and not respectful enough (sorry, can't find the right word) to deem that effortless.

[Dan Kelly]

Economy of writing is an odd issue. When you cut too much, you tend to be dismissed.

That's me.

Who?

You win.

I?

[Sean Leary]

Economy of writing is an odd issue. When you cut too much, you tend to be dismissed.

That's me.

Who?

You win.

I?

.

[Dan Kelly]

Economy of writing is an odd issue. When you cut too much, you tend to be dismissed.

That's me.

Who?

You win.

I?

.

LOL, Sean.

[Carl Johnson]

I can easily recall the first time one of my loops said she was nervous because of caring about what I thought of her game.

The concept was as foreign to me . . . .  

A couple of months ago I attended a program at which legendary Pinehurst caddie Willie McRae was asked whether it made any difference to him who he caddied for, an expert golfer or a novice.  I cannot remember his exact answer word for word, but essentially his answer was that it was a business to him and that for him to be paid like he wanted to be, he did the best job he could for every golfer, regardless of skill level.  They all paid the same way.