Thursday
My approach to travel writing is much the same as Mark Twain’s. He did a lot of peck and squint. Twain had a typographer (early model word processor). It didn’t have a delete button, which accounts for the length of Huckleberry Finn, War and Peace and a lot of Dicken’s work.
Back in the day the original Mrs Redpen corrected a lot of Twain’s work. He did get cross at her and slid a lot past without editing. She soon refused to meet him, hence the expression ‘never the twain shall meet’. Most people believe never the ‘twain shall meet ‘is a railroad expression first uttered by a gentleman with a speech impediment.
A more recent Mrs Redpen employed me for my squint and peck abilities. She valued these more highly than my ability to think clearly, solve problems, do comprehensive analysis, or find make the intractable tractable. She was very astute.
To sum up, I think I actually handle the details of travel writing very very well. And it is clear that like Twain, Dickens and Cooper, my writing does not require red-penning.
So, take that!! I rest on my laurels.
Off Highway One 