i.love.words.

I recently came upon this wonderful book called "Writing Tools: 50 essential strategies for every writer" by Roy Peter Clark. "Writing is a craft you learn," he says. "You need tools, not rules." The fact is, the best writers break the "rules" of writing all the time. Writing tools, on the other hand, "work outside the territory of right and wrong, and inside the land of cause and effect."

For an example, I will share with you one of my favorite new tools:

Tool 20: Choose the number of elements with a purppose.

One, two, three, or four: each sends a secret message to the reader.

>> The Language of One Use One For Power

Jesus wept.

Call me.

War is hell.

I do.

God is love.

Elvis has left the building.

I have a dream.

I have a headache.

Read my lips.

>> The Language of Two Use Two for Comparison, Contrast.

Mom and Dad.

Tom and Jerry.

Ham and eggs.

Abbot and Costello.

Men are from Mars. Women are from Venus.

Dick and Jane.

Rock 'n' roll.

I and thou.

>> The Language of Three Use Three for Completeness, Wholeness, Roundness.

Beginning, middle, and end.

Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Moe, Larry, and Curly.

A priest, a minister, and a rabbi.

Executive, legislative, judicial.

The Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria.

>> The Language of Four and More Use Four or More to List, Inventory, Compile, Expand.

Getting the drift? I am espescially enamored of the way the author uses what he is teaching in his actual writing. Some people may not catch it but I thought it was brilliant. I found it interesting how many of these "tools" I already used, but how being more aware of them by giving them a label has actually helped me in the every day writing process.

So. Anyway. If you made it all the way through that without falling asleep I applaud you. There actually are some wacko people out there who find themselves scraping the scraps off the plate, so to speak, when it comes to this kind of thing. Tool 44: Save String. You never know when you're going to use it.