It must be pretty nice to have it all figured out. I'm actually considering emailing Dr. Pipher so she can inform me of the outcome of Superbowl XLII. I'm sure she would have a succinct, revelatory insight for me there.
Haha, but honestly...I think the charm of her assertive tone has run its course. Thank god we started at chapter six and not from the beginning! I think when Dr. Pipher explicates the virtues of humble writing, she is doing so from a distance. This woman does not have a humble bone in her body, and after chapter 8, frankly I was tired of being informed of how things should be done. Her writing has perspicuity (yeah that's right!), if only I could make out what she's saying from way down here on the ground, walking amongst mere mortals. She needs to calm down on the authoritative voice, and if only a couple times per page, she needs to concede some flaws. It becomes a bit much.
Based on the succinctness of her writing, she is an expert at revision, but I wish she emphasized that more in her chapter on process. It seems that her writing is emulating William Zinser's style as presented in On Writing Well. but I've seen no reference to his writing. Maybe I missed it, but it seems odd to set out on writing an instructional book on direct, succinct writing and not pay tribute to Zinser.
edit: as I'm sure it's painfully obvious, I wrote the paragraph on revision after reading chapters 9 and 10, but before reading chapter 10 (or even glancing at the title). It won't happen again Dr. Mckinney, I promise! :P
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