On Writing

Q: Why would an editor want to teach engineers to write? Because it’s so much fun! Engineers are extremely thoughtful, always looking at a problem from a number of angles and challenging dogmatic ideas. This matches my own approach to life and to language, so I love discussing English with engineers. Conversations with high-IQ people are great. You just won’t get the same level of analysis from a room full of literature majors, who have been trained  in a completely different way of thinking. I love the engineering approach to language. Engineers are taught to invent, to innovate, to question. And isn’t that essentially exactly the same process editors go through when they edit? Ergo, if you ask me, editors and engineers are a natural match! (Caveat: If you’re a dogmatic, authoritarian sort who can’t stand to be questioned and to reasonably and scientifically debate why one word choice or text layout or document format is preferable to another, or give the reasoning beh...

I’m sharing this excerpt from my unpublished book “ How to Get a Dragon for a Pet” for the benefit of a class on Magic and ancient Cornwall (Dumnonia) that we’re enjoying together this January 2020. This may sound like a post of pure silliness to some of you. If you have no interest in getting a dragon for a pet,   or possibly no understanding or belief about dragons existing at all, you might as well skip this post and return to my more “professional” writings about how to edit papers for scientists and engineers or how to write lessons to enchant students about math. J Only read this post if you actually are interested in having a dragon, or knowing about people who have dragons. Have a nice day. Meditation to Get a Dragon or How To Actually Get a Dragon for a Pet “Pure-hearted people are not always wise or good for themselves, though they are often very good to others. This is why pure-hearted people need dragons.” -- ScullyRubba Normally ...