Don’t worry when I don’t comment–it could mean that you were spot on with whatever you posted, and I don’t want to encourage that kind of thing…if I did, it would leave me with nothing to say.

My metaphor is this: there are two kinds of sculpture, one is additive (putting things onto other things) and one is subtractive (chiseling away at the stone). People think writing is additive, but it’s not. Really, it’s about taking the stone — the first draft — and chiseling it into shape.

Smart as I am, you’d think I’d have more than three readers.

And I do miss you, Thomas, when you don’t comment. It worries me that you’re not commenting because I’m not writing anything interesting. I feel that way about all (both) my regulars — seriously — and it helps keep me engaged.

As for “rewrite:” isn’t that the definition of the word “write?”

Having said that, no editor has ever asked me for a rewrite–it’s usually requested in command form…

As for the traffic thing, I think it means that people, in general, like me better when I’m quiet. An ordinary person would take a message from that. I am, however, abnormal.