Writing Fundamentals

I am officially a writing geek - sort of. I managed either to avoid grammar and composition classes in school or not pay attention. Consequently, I am learning grammar rules on the job. (Thank you friends and editors.) The geek part is that I stuck a copy of Strunk and White's The Elements of Style in my purse and read it whenever I found myself in a waiting room. On page 69, I found this gem: " Writing is, for the most, laborious and slow. The mind travels faster than the pen; consequently, writing becomes a question of learning to make occasional wing shots, bringing down the bird of thought as it flashes by. A writer is a gunner, sometimes waiting in the blind for something to come in, sometimes roaming the countryside hoping to scare something up. Like other gunners, the writer must cultivate patience, working many covers to bring down one partridge."

I don't particularly like the hunting references, but I think this sums it up. Show up and be patient. The rest falls into place.