When I write, I feel like an optometrist, constantly flipping between lenses and asking, 'Is this better? Is this?' Slowly, the work comes into focus.
Interpretation
Writing is a process of refinement that requires careful adjustment and evaluation.
In this quote, Nell Scovell compares the act of writing to the work of an optometrist, suggesting that writers, like eye care professionals, must continually adjust and refine their work to find clarity and focus. The metaphor highlights the iterative process of writing, where constant testing and reassessment lead to the final polished piece, emphasizing patience and precision in creative endeavors.
In practice
In a writers' workshop to encourage a friend who is struggling with their draft.
I think, in all fields, there's this motherhood pay penalty where, the second you become a mother - and this is true whether you give birth or adopt - you're perceived to not be as committed to your job. Whereas men are perceived as breadwinners who now need more money and promotions because they're fathers.
If women who don't help women get a special circle in hell, I think women who do help women should get a special cloud in heaven.
We usually know what we can do, but temptation shows us who we are.
Right action is better than knowledge; but in order to do what is right, we must know what is right.
The best thing anyone can do is be himself. Everyone was made different by God, and that's the way it should be. And if I were a writer or an announcer starting out, I don't think I'd imitate anybody. I'd try to be whatever I am.
When you clench your fist, no one can put anything in your hand.
Treating your adversary with respect is striking soft in battle.
An action comitted in anger is an action doomed to failure.
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