Re: Opening

On Mon, 01 Oct 2007 23:02:49 GMT, ames@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Andrew
Stephenson) wrote:

In article <ddfr-4AAA9B.14190601102007@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
ddfr@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx "David Friedman" writes:

In article <akm2g31d3htbuisor9anpdj7mie1t8ul08@xxxxxxx>,
James Eades <jeeades@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Mon, 01 Oct 2007 16:13:40 GMT, ames@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Andrew
Stephenson) wrote:

In article <1191246325.009349.95460@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
lampert.doug@xxxxxxxxx " DougL" writes:

With sufficient faith you can move mountains. How much faith
does that take? Why enough to move mountains of course.

And, if I had faith enough to move mountains some nasty critic'd
tell me to switch jobs, despite the likes of Caterpillar and JCB
seeming to have the mountain-moving business cornered.

Yup. Seems every time you move a mountain, somebody starts whinging
because you've put them out of a job. In addition, the real estate
people get very upset.

There is the problem of where to put it.

I see that, ever so inadvertently, I have supplied the NG with a
worked example of why the main burden of comprehensibility is on
the writer, rather than the reader. Two responses suggest I did
not express myself clearly. There may be more readers in a like
state of confusion.

I am of the school that teaches, if a reader fails to understand
a writer's meaning, the writer should begin by presuming (s)he's
at fault. Further thought may show it's down to the reader; but
a spot of auctorial humility at the outset is best. For some of
us, humility may come hard but that is a major part of the wacky
world of being a jobbing entertainer begging in the free market.

My meaning was: I learn to move mountains; some dimwitted critic
lacking the discernment necessary to loving me as a writer tells
me to give up writing and do mountain-moving instead; this (s)he
does despite there being established companies already doing one
fine job of it already. (WAITS FOR LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE) Yes,
one of my favourite gags. Thank you, ladies and gents. The hat
is on its way round...

Please do not take my post as a criticism of any kind, nor is your
post lacking in authorial quality - I, on the other hand, am a reader
who delights in twisting legitimate communications into warped meaning
in an attempt to display an occasionally lacking sense of humor. YMMV.
Do not adjust your writing mechanisms.

Meanwhile, I'll gladly drop a virtual coin into the hat as it passes.
;-)
__
JamesE
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Opening
    ... Why enough to move mountains of course. ... the writer, rather than the reader. ... I am of the school that teaches, if a reader fails to understand ... Andrew Stephenson ...
    (rec.arts.sf.composition)
  • Re: english words absorbed into Asian languages during WW2
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  • Re: english words absorbed into Asian languages during WW2
    ... But there are really no mountains in Philippines, ... > In colloquial usage "bundok" can admittedly be used as a noun ... > intended meaning of referring to some faraway place that is very ... > "Tingnan mo ang kutis at makinig ka sa usap niya, ...
    (sci.lang)