Chapter 3 - GRACE
On style, economy, and poise
Summary
All good things come by grace and grace comes by art and art does not come easy.
norman macleanTimepiece
Old watches are my weakness. Old watches and old fountain pens. Okay, old watches, old pens, books of any age, and cowboy boots. But that's it; and most of all it's watches.
Time — what it is, how it felt to other people, why it goes so fast, what it does to memory and perspective, how to handle it in a piece of work — time is the great mystery a writer grapples with. This one, anyway. So a good timepiece, in which the mystery is caught, ordered, and beautifully expressed, is a comforting thing to wear. And when a deadline looms as it always does, I want to be able to find out in the most beautiful way just how little time I've got to go.
I don't go in for fancy things; I believe in style, not fashion. I'm with whoever it was who said that beauty is simplicity in perfection. The most beautiful things work — and go on working — elegantly, without drawing attention to themselves. A nice watch, like a good pen, is a beautiful tool. And I believe in beautiful tools. Such as poems. Such as books.
I like my tools — especially my pens and watches — old because I'm drawn to original things; I like to feel connected, physically, to other lives and other times and places.
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- Information
- Writing WellThe Essential Guide, pp. 97 - 133Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2008