Nancy Rudel
Author's posts
Oct 10
Not yet Halloween: style guide for spooks
Spies, that is. Mental Floss has collected highlights from the (Central Intelligence Agency’s) Directorate of Intelligence Style Manual & Writer’s Guide for Intelligence Publications. Before you drop the microfiche into the third trash barrel on the west side of the park pond at 12:20 on Tuesday, double check your report for these common errors: http://mentalfloss.com/article/57743/11-grammar-lessons-leaked-cia-style-book
Sep 03
Quote of the week: August roundup
The profession of book writing makes horse racing seem like a solid, stable business. John Steinbeck There is a great deal of difference between an eager man who wants to read a book and the tired man who wants a book to read. Gilbert K. Chesterton A book is a version of the world. If …
Sep 03
Don’t feel bad: you overlook typos because you’re really smart
Here’s an interesting science-based explanation of why we fail to see mistakes in our own writing. This supports the common practice of having someone with ‘fresh eyes’ proofread any important document. From Nick Stockton at wired.com.
Aug 04
Quote of the week: July roundup
Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words. Robert Frost No two persons ever read the same book. Edmund Wilson There is a difference between a book of two hundred pages from the very beginning, and a book of two hundred pages which is the result of an …
Jul 19
Street typography video
Jul 03
London celebrates books
I’m on my way to London today for my first visit longer than 3 hours, and am really hope to find a few of these benches!
Jul 01
Quote of the week: June roundup
The pages are still blank, but there is a miraculous feeling of the words being there, written in invisible ink and clamoring to become visible. Vladimir Nabokov A playwright must be his own audience. A novelist may lose his readers for a few pages; a playwright never dares lose his audience for a minute. Terence …
Jun 09
Quote of the week: May roundup
Fantasy is hardly an escape from reality. It’s a way of understanding it. Lloyd Alexander The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers. Thomas Jefferson Lovers of print are simply confusing the plate for the food. Douglas Adams What gunpowder did for war, the printing …
May 19