Giving Away the Store, Part 4: Living in Libraries and Bookstores

Writers read. Reading fuels writers. It feeds their perception, jumpstarts their animation, sparks their inspiration, ignites their innovation. While electronic media increasingly make research and reading accessible and immediate, writers still call libraries and bookstores their home. I passed one today, the Book Trader Cafe in New Haven, and found there a long-sought used book in excellent condition at a deeply discounted price. 

The title of the found book is irrelevant for the purpose of this post. What matters is that writers are continually on the lookout for information: data to interpret, stories to adapt, ideas to cultivate. They capture this content from what they read. (They also find source material in the art they see, the music they listen to, and the people they meet; these wellsprings will serve as topics of future posts in this series.) 

Wherever I go, I visit the libraries and bookstores, many of which I have mentioned in WORDS ON THE LINE over the past twenty years. I am a card-carrying member of two city and three college libraries. I feel rich. If you are an aspiring writer, I suggest you go home, to a library or bookstore.

Giving Away the Store, Part 3: Perverse Punctuation

Great writers don't follow rules. They don't look up in a style book how to use a comma. They invent their own rules. Some don't even care about the standard subject-verb-object order of English if they can create a dramatic effect, as in by the grace of God go I. Here's an example of an exceptional writer, whose name has often appeared in this blog, who defies conventional punctuation rules:

One sees that most human beings are wretched, and, in one way or another, become wicked: because they are so wretched. And one's turning away, then, for what I have called the welcome table is dictated by some mysterious vow one scarcely knows one's taken—never allow oneself to fall so low. – from James Baldwin,  No Name in the Street in Collected Essays (Library of America, p. 374)

Most writing teachers would suggest that a dash should replace the colon, and a colon should replace the dash. To which Baldwin would surely say, "I don't care what you suggest." Baldwin was a born rebel, a fierce social critic, an American treasure, a global original, and an extraordinary writer, among the many other reasons why his life and work have resurged nearly four decades after his work. He has been the subject of notable documentaries, biopics, biographies, and plays. (For my money, he has never receded into the shadows of world literature.)  

Back to my point. Writing by the textbook requires us to use colons for announcements and dashes for emphasis. Baldwin seems to apply those rules in reverse. But why fuss over rules when you want people to focus on your ideas, not your understanding of grammatical edicts? Be on the lookout for rule breakers in your reading of masterful writers.

Giving Away the Store, Part 2: Word Smarts

If I find a website that contains more than a half dozen answers to questions students have frequently asked me, I'd have no choice but to refer it. Word Smarts is such a site. 

Word Smarts offers an extensive list of grammar, diction, punctuation, and style tips. You will learn something about our spoken and written language, as well as find the reading entertaining, whether you are looking for the standard uses of an ellipsis, difference between fewest and least, purposes of the past participle, or origin of "how come." 

You can also subscribe to the site to receive periodic email updates.

Giving Away the Store, Part 1: The Value of Reading Aloud

A fellow writing consultant once told me, "Don't tell your clients everything you know because then they won't need you." I never accepted such wrongheaded advice. I decided she was insecure, limited, selfish, and ignorant. Any consulting business built on such a model cannot succeed. 

Since I have been in this business, I have tried to use my education and knowledge to bring people in, not to keep them out; to lift them up, not to put them down; to move them forward, not to hold them back. How could I embody my mantra without giving my all to whomever I could whenever I could and wherever I was? I believe that the more you give, the more you get. The past three decades have proven me right. I am still here doing my thing.

In this spirit of giving, I will give away the store. I will dedicate all of 2025 to promoting sources other than my own to help people cultivate their writing craft. I start with this simple yet powerful suggestion from "Reading Aloud" by Melissa Kirsch writing for the New York Times. As far as I remember, I understood the benefits of reading to children. But this article also underscores the delights and rewards of being read to. By listening to a reader, we practice concentration, listen to the rhythm of a language, and build a bond with our reader. With a skilled reader, we also learn the meaning and pronunciation, or additional meanings and pronunciations of words. We also get insights into punctuation, hearing the slight pauses of commas,  longer pauses of periods, dramatic emphasis of dashes and colons, and minor interruptions of parentheses. This article is less than a five-minute read with a terrific reference to Harvard Sentences. It's definitely a worthwhile read.

Twentieth Anniversary of WORDS ON THE LINE

I figured I would keep this blog alive for a year. Or two. Then five. Maybe ten. After 1,162 posts and 20 years of WORDS ON THE LINE, I'm still here. I have written most of these posts in half of the United States (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Washington, DC, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Ohio, Iowa, Illinois, Colorado, Louisiana, Texas, Arizona, Nevada, California, and Hawaii), but I also wrote some of them in a dozen other countries too (Canada, Cuba, Iceland, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Malta, Greece, India, China, and Australia). 

WORDS ON THE LINE has focused on writing at work, school, and home. In a sense, you can see this blog as a professional autobiography, as I have written about many of my activities, ideas, interests, and goals. The topics listed on the sidebar offers numerous tips on a wide range of writing-related topics, including book reviews, diction, grammar, and style. Searching a topic in the Search This Blog bar will reveal the depth of information I've collected over these past two decades. You can also write me at Phil@PhilVassallo.com if you have questions about writing.