Quite a few years ago, driving from Uniontown to Pittsburgh, on the car radio we heard Earl Nightingale tell of the method he followed to improve his writing. The method is along the lines of the method followed in the Kano school of Japanese painters to inculcate standards of skill into pupils (explained in this weblog’s March 24, 2006 entry). The method is this: slowly and attentively, every day and for years, copy passages written by great writers.
We’re now confirmed in the habit, having copied thousands of passages, about a million words. It has inculcated into us a high standard of writing, showing us what is humanly possible. Though oftentimes we cannot achieve the standard, we try harder and longer because of it, and our writing is better for it.
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For a brief biography of Earl Nightingale, click here.
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