WooHoo … two days in a row

Here’s the link to my friend Ed’s blog: http://edwardtkoh.wordpress.com/ … go read there, it’s interesting and fun!

I don’t know why, but I seem to want to start sentences with “So, blah … blah … blah” at some point in my first paragraph. I have been able to stop that knee jerk tendency successfully thus far in the written words but I realized that frequently I start spoken conversations with that word. I may find that harder to curb since there is no ability to edit after the words are out. Starting sentences with “And” is another quirk that bugs me about my past writing attempts. I am serious about this exercise of writing frequently in an effort to learn from my mistakes and practice my ability to establish a voice or a character or a theme.

When I woke up yesterday morning after ruminating about what to do with the two pumpkins and a butternut squash I roasted the day before, I decided spicy pumpkin nut muffins would be the best choice before tai chi class. When the pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger combination began wafting through the house, my decision was validated, the day was shaping up to be a beauty. Tai chi was another great session with Laoshi Karim which reinforced some known principles and reminded me of some basic techniques that improve performance of forms. Just like blog writing, the most important element is pracitce.

In an effort to improve my writing, I intend to re-read some long ago texts that might clarify the process. The first principle I must concentrate on is to omit needless words (one of 11 Elementary Principles of Composition* ). That is one of my writing and speaking foibles.

* From The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White  .