Thursday, March 01, 2007
Advice on Writing
Samuel Johnson, Letter "to a young clergyman in the country" (quoted by Boswell in his Life of Doctor Johnson, 1780, aetat. 71):
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[I]n the labour of composition, do not burthen your mind with too much at once; do not exact from yourself at one effort of excogitation, propriety of thought and elegance of expression. Invent first, and then embellish. The production of something, where nothing was before, is an act of greater energy than the expansion or decoration of the thing produced. Set down diligently your thoughts as they rise, in the first words that occur; and, when you have matter, you will easily give it form: nor, perhaps, will this method be always necessary; for by habit, your thoughts and diction will flow together.
