writerjenn

Revising away.  I can't talk too much about it yet, because I don't want that energy to dissipate.

But I do want to share a couple of gems I've stumbled across in recent days:

Last weekend, I was in a bookstore.  While waiting to pay for my books, I noticed a kid in front of me--a boy about 12, I would guess--reading, oblivious to the world.  When he got up to the register, he barely wanted to let go of the book long enough for the cashier to ring it up.  I love seeing that!  It's why I want to write for young people, too.  When they love books, they love books.  

The second gem is this quote from Anne Bernays, on Vladimir Nabokov's use of adjectives: "[E]ach of his is chosen as carefully as an engagement ring . . ."  I adore this line, and not only because I agree that it applies perfectly to Nabokov.  Adverbs and adjectives get a bad rap nowadays, but when sparing and well-chosen, they can carry as much worth as that singular diamond.  (The Bernays quote is from her essay "Pupils Glimpse an Idea, Teacher Gets a Gold Star" in WRITERS [ON WRITING]: COLLECTED ESSAYS FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES.)

Here's hoping my word choices measure up to those of Nabokov.  Or Bernays.