The secret of good writing

It may seem self-defeating, but I think part of my job is to help people develop their own writing ability. Recently I discovered The Secret of Good Writing, articulated as clearly as one could wish. It's the first paragraph of the Fowler brothers' book, "The King's English", first published in 1906. (In that time, they used the generic pronoun "he", so the politically correct should brace themselves.) It reads:

"Any one who wishes to become a good writer should endeavour, before he allows himself to be tempted by the more showy qualities, to be direct, simple, brief, vigorous, and lucid."

I can't improve on that. If you'd like to see what more the brothers had to say (and it's well worth it), go to my Bookshelf page and you can order the book there (via Amazon).

The Library of Unwritten Books

"Everyone's got a book in them", the saying goes. And now two artists, Caroline Jupp and Sam Brown, have decided to prove it, by collecting these unwritten books in a library.

They go around interviewing people about the books those people might write, given the chance. The interviews are then written up and published as lovely little books. Which strikes me as rather brilliant.

The books are distributed in all sorts of places - like doctor's surgeries, pubs, and Chinese takeaways - as well as being exhibited more formally. The next stop on its tour is Somerset House, where the collection is showing from 27 May '05.

Apparently they have yet to cotton onto the commercial opportunity of selling copies, which seems a shame as I'd certainly buy a few. Nevertheless, I thought this was such a great idea that I'd tell you about it. And now I have.

Click here to see the Library website