Friday, September 21, 2012

Lipogram: What's Unusual About This Post?

A big plus of working on writing with adults is that I pick up as much wisdom as I impart. But kids can also pass on a thing or two to instructors. Ishika Jain, a primary school pupil, is a grand illustration of such a child. 

Ishika's mom, who was in my grammar class from this Monday to Thursday, said that Ishika was taught in school about lipograms and a book Gadsby by an author who did craft such an opus in lipogram fashion,  amazingly laying down 50,000 words without using a particular symbol. I will not say what that symbol is, as I am trying my hand at a lipogram in this post. Can you spot which symbol I am trying so hard not apply to all four paragraphs? 

You might rightly ask, "Why would a man or woman want to do such a thing?" I can think of two motivations: First, authors do such things simply for fun. Also, writing this post did assign many a difficulty, as I constantly had to twist my thinking and look up optional words just to avoid including that symbol. I gladly will try such a task as a way of boosting my productivity. This post is not as long as Gadsby, but a 250-word composition is not bad for a first (and last) try.

I did not know about lipograms or that book; thus, I can truly say that Ishika has taught yours truly. So a big thanks to you, Ishika!