Moderate Writing

I have a bit of a mixed reaction to Boice’s advice in Chapters 15 and 16 (that we “moderate emotions” and “moderate attachments,” respectively). On the one hand, I absolutely agree; moderating emotion and attachment, while not necessarily the best advice in all aspects of life, seem like good practices in writing. I especially like Boice’s connections between moderating attachment to our writing and practicing revision; though it seems a bit cheesy, I think the saying “I’m not much of a writer, but I’m a great rewriter” can be a helpful way of approaching writing and of relieving the stress associated with beginning (179).

On the other hand, though, it sometimes seems to me that Boice fails to practice his own advice of “stopping before feeling ready” in these chapters. Much of what he writes here is so similar to what he’s written in previous chapters that I think he could easily condense all these points into one chapter about self-control. Talking about balance and moderation is certainly helpful, but I can’t help but feel that Boice needs to balance his advice with a sort of “pause,” in order for readers to think about the usefulness of his advice rather than wondering why he keeps restating the same (or at least very similar) points.