Robusto

2,012 reputation

416

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I want patience and I want it now.

Also, I find that nostalgia isn't what it used to be.

Laziness is what gets me out of bed in the morning.

正宗で大根を切る。

言い出しっぺ。

Some of the smartest things people have ever said:

No language makes perfect sense. — John McWhorter

Neurosis is always a substitute for legitimate suffering. — Carl Jung

A child educated only at school is an uneducated child. — George Santayana

Tactics is knowing what to do when there is something to do. Strategy is knowing what to do when there is nothing to do. — Savielly Tartakower

One of the painful things about our time is that those who feel certainty are stupid, and those with any imagination and understanding are filled with doubt and indecision — Bertrand Russell

Every good thing that happens in your life is a gift. — Yours Truly

	2,012 reputation	bio	website		visits	member for	2 years, 3 months
416 badges		location	United States		seen	Apr 8 at 16:41

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54 Comments

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Apr 8	comment	german tourist or German tourist? @NeilFein: Haha, how'd that work out for you? :)
Mar 23	comment	Getting details of a past century right Related.
Mar 20	comment	Best way to emphasise the greenness of the fields in spring in comparison with summer All right, then let me say it straight: There is no "best way to emphasise the greenness of the fields in spring in comparison with summer." There are only ways that work for what you are trying to do. And you have to be the judge of that.
Mar 17	comment	Best way to emphasise the greenness of the fields in spring in comparison with summer @shomif: If you are trying to develop your own style, why ask about it in some forum about writing? Sheesh.
Feb 18	comment	Does using version control system make backups unnecessary? +1 As sharptooth correctly notes, if you have your version control on the same drive as your backups, you're living in a fool's paradise.
Feb 16	comment	Proper use of the “historical present tense” Cue to a bar ...? This sounds very odd if you're writing prose instead of a screenplay. (N.B. in a screenplay, the direction would be Cut to .... You don't use to with cue, as it takes a direct object: Cue jackhammer noises outside the window.)
Jan 27	comment	What software do you use for writing and then structuring a book? Agree with Andrew that InDesign is a pain to use, and that Scrivener's exporting features can be clunky and unintuitive. Try to write a novel with subparts in Scrivener. It's easy to set that up and write, but when it comes to exporting it's a royal PITA getting the section title pages to format and display correctly. Scrivener is far from perfect, but I still prefer it to anything else.
Jan 8	comment	What language style should I use for a tech blog? What Prof. Lawler said.
Nov 19	comment	How does one write a character smarter than oneself? When you get a good answer, make sure you notify Dan Brown.
Nov 6	comment	How applicable are screenwriting ideas to novels? Contrary to what the Write a Novel in 30 Days books may tell you, there is no exact formula for writing novels or screenplays. And if you think you have written something because you have a certain number of words or followed a preordained pattern, that thing is very likely not a novel or a screenplay.
Oct 3	comment	Scrivener project statistics is showing an incorrect word count Make sure all the folders that contain the text are descendants of the main project folder.
Sep 25	comment	Are contractions antithetical to academic writing? @NeilFein: Why would I add my own answer when Craig Sefton has covered it handsomely? Note my comment on his answer. Also note that we are wasting an ass-ton of words to argue about what is essentially a quibble. I think antithetical is too strong an adjective in this context; you do not. Let's move on.
Sep 25	comment	Are contractions antithetical to academic writing? @NeilFein: I don't see contractions as being either of those things with respect to academic writing. What that style of writing needs would be accuracy and clarity. If a contraction promotes clarity, what's the harm?
Sep 6	comment	Path to publishing a technical book You are much better off not having a complete copy of the book. Publishers want to shape the books they publish to address needs they have, and that is far easier to do at the proposal stage. Note that technical publishers frequently assign parts of books to several authors. Writing part of a book is a good step toward getting the credentials to write an entire book yourself.
Sep 5	comment	Are contractions antithetical to academic writing? +1: And I encourage the OP to pay special attention the last sentence, checking what style guide is in force for the school in question. Usually this will be either MLA or APA, depending on the subject being studied.
Sep 4	comment	Are contractions antithetical to academic writing? I'm not sure if I would call them "antithetical" in that context. "Out of place," perhaps?
Aug 28	comment	Which language to use when writing a multinational story Try Der Zauberberg, which is written in German and French.
Aug 26	comment	Which language to use when writing a multinational story I guess Thomas Mann must get your hackles up.
Aug 6	comment	Should you specify camera action in a film script? Check out the details in this script, which was written by the Executive Producer of the show (also its inventor and lead writer). He is adding shooting details because he has the authority to. An ordinary screenwriter would not presume to frame shots and talk about production details as if his opinion mattered.
Aug 6	comment	Should you specify camera action in a film script? @Aerovistae: This is why writers are at the bottom of the pecking order in Hollywood. If you have any power, you become a producer.