Jimmy Guterman’s Jewels and Binoculars

media, technology, and the rest of it

The rules

People sometimes ask me for rules about writing and I claim I have none. Well, I don’t. But someone in my house does.

Last year, when Lydia was in fifth grade, she came home with an index card she had filled out at school.

Lydia's rules

In 20 syllables, only three more than a haiku, she elegantly and authoritatively states what is to be done.

Onward!

UPDATE: As Lydia notes in the comments below, the index card was a fourth grade project, not a fifth grade one. Senior moment?

Written by guterman

February 7, 2008 at 8:05 am

Posted in novel

Subscribe to comments with RSS.

You must be logged in to post a comment.

jimmy AT guterman DOT com

... editing an essay about innovation while listening to Bo Diddley sing about Nikita Krushchev. Really ... 2 days ago
... RT @tomwatson The 'Wise Latinas' would be a great name for a band ... 3 days ago
... construction outside my office, feel vibrations in chair and desk, about to move to other side of building ... 3 days ago
... RT @andrew_zolli Terrific microphilanthropy portal in Massachusetts: http://www.smallcanbebig.org ... 3 days ago
... in his self-aggrandizing defense of theft, Arrington confuses news value with site traffic. disingenuous at best ... 3 days ago
... QOTD from @smbrown: "I try to spend a lot of time not thinking about the home page" ... 3 days ago
... website name of the day: http://www.goofram.com/, combining Google and Wolfram search results ... 3 days ago
... RT @mitsmr Fans of Dan Ariely may be interested in the student fiction based on his research that he's publishing http://bit.ly/tS765 3 days ago
... when it comes to web journalism ethics, @karaswisher is my hero(ine) ... 3 days ago
At The Week, the word "week" in the title is the value proposition. At Business Week, the same word is the problem. 4 days ago