And You're Telling Me This... Because?
Most of my friends [two of the three, that I currently have] thought it a good idea to publish a collection of my "Grizzly's This 'N That" columns [not to be confused with GTNT, the book version]. I agreed with them, for a change. I picked out, edited and/or modified [for improved readability] the top one hundred or so.
I don't wish to toot my own horn [OK, maybe just a little], but I believe most of my work was decent to above average and I'd rate some at very good to great [sounds like a "honk" rather than a "toot"]. But I'll let you be the judge ... for a price though, since I probably won't be giving you a book free of charge.
From the beginning of my column writing career, I never paid a whole lot of attention to word count, but as time went on, I found that five hundred words worked best for me and therefore, that's what I strived for. I've done this by personal choice, for none of the editors I've worked for ever dictated a length or, for that matter, a topic to cover.
I have generally picked a subject out of the aging grey matter, come up with a few hundred words, threw in a bit or two of light humor [hopefully] and called it good. My columns are not excessively long for two main reasons. It's a no-brainer fact that it takes less effort and time to write a 500 word offering, as opposed to one twice that size. Dah! And I'm not known to be the most patient sort of guy around and I read about as fast as I type ...so shorter is better.
"Hey, Griz. What does a personal character flaw and a poor reading skill have to do with anything?"
Well, hold on, Bucko and I'll explain. As I see it, the text from a number of newspaper and magazine columnists runs from about 800-1500 words. Since I'm not a speedy reader, I become tired and/or bored with lengthy columns, editorials and the like.
I don't fault the writer, for they are often paid by the word, but that fact tends to make some of them, at times, more interested in volume rather than content.
"Griz, your fellow journalists aren't going to take those words kindly."
Oh, well, the truth hurts, but I'll not back down on my point, because I've read many a writer's long, drawn-out pieces [at more than one setting] that could have been shortened without distracting from the point of the story, one iota.
By the way, the literary interruptions earlier are provided by an entity, who has been a part of many GTNT articles. He or she [I'm not sure which] pops in and out, on occasion, to hopefully interject a little variety into my writing efforts. And no, I didn't include the mysterious character into the number of friends given at the beginning of this intro, but I did include my wife, as one of the three, but I won't say how she voted.
At any rate, I hope you enjoy most of what I'll put before you when YTMTB goes to press early next year. I'll close the intro with the phrase I tacked on to my bits, a few years ago. Have a great life and thanks for shopping.
