Writing guides, grammar books, punctuation how-tos . . . do you read them? Not read them? How many writing books, grammar books, dictionaries–if any–do you have in your library?
I read them, occasionally. As for grammar and punctuation, if you've read one, you've read them all. I don't mean that they're the same--the execution is different, of course, so reading any of these for pleasure means you're reading for the author's style--but the rules are the same. And if all the rules are the same, what's the point in owning all these books?
Since I write in my free time, one would think that I would have a bunch of writing guides in my possession. In reality, no. I mean, sure, there are the few writing guides like Stephen King's On Writing or Strunk and White that I would even recommend to non-writers, but on the whole I view most of the offerings in this genre as useless. Writing style is a personal thing, and I'd rather muddle along by myself than follow somebody else's how-to.
As of this moment, I have on hand one dictionary, one thesaurus, one grammar and punctuation book, and three writing guides (the aforementioned King, Strunk and White, and one on Nanowrimo which I just thought would be cool to have since I've been a long-time participant--not that I follow any of Baty's suggestions). And frankly, that's probably all I need to have.
Onesome: Fife-- Barney? ...a musical instrument? ...the number after 'four'? What came to mind when you saw this week's title?
Musical instrument. Specifically, what came to mind was a medieval ensemble playing in a Renaissance fair. Or something like that.
Twosome: and--do you recall a painting of a fife and drum set with a flag? No? Maybe one of our American History majors can link it in...
I vaguely remember the painting. I don't remember the artist though.
Threesome: Drum--lines? Do you love them? ...or do you even know they exist? I'm wondering if this is an "Eastern" thing...
Why is drumming an "Eastern" thing? Sure, there are Japanese taiko drummers, but aren't there drums in marching bands too? Marching bands solely consisting of drummers? Oil drummers in the Caribbean? There are drums and percussion instruments in every culture.
I like certain kinds of drumming, but it's not one of those things which I go crazy over or even consider seeking out.
