Robert H. Jacksons Thought Applied To Writing

[NOIRTRASH]

I used to say that, as Solicitor General, I made three arguments in every case. First came the one I had planned – as I thought, logical, coherent, complete. Second was the one actually presented – interrupted, incoherent, disjointed, disappointing. The third was the utterly devastating argument that I thought of after going to bed that night…

OUR BEST IS ALWAYS AN AFTERTHOUGHT.

 

[oggbashan]

The French have an expression for it.

L'esprit de l'escalier or l'esprit d'escalier ("staircase wit") is a French term used in English for the predicament of thinking of the perfect reply too late.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L'esprit_de_l'escalier

 

[NOIRTRASH]

L'esprit de l'escalier or l'esprit d'escalier ("staircase wit") is a French term used in English for the predicament of thinking of the perfect reply too late.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L'esprit_de_l'escalier

A corollary is: YOULL NEVER HAVE OCCASION TO USE A PERFECT ARGUMENT. IT ALWAYS COMES TOO LATE, AND ALL SENSE ITS EXISTENCE, LIKE MONSTERS LERKING BENEATH THE BED. NEITHER ARE EVER SUMMONED.

 

[oggbashan]

It's like the perfect story that appears fully formed in your head when you are half awake in the middle of the night.

By next morning it has gone beyond recall. If you made any notes at the time, they are indecipherable of incoherent in the daylight.

One scientist had an idea in the middle of the night that he thought would solve all the world's problems and make him fantastic amounts of money.

Next morning, his scribbled note read "Smells of Petroleum". He never remembered why he wrote that, nor what it meant.

 

[JackLuis]

This perfectly describes my current position. Awake at 03:30 after a lucid dream and trying hard to hammer out a plot line that makes this half a story into something plausible, without resorting to magic.

Sitting here trying to sort out the thread ends and unravel the gorgons knot, I believe resulted from resulting from a particularly nice Chili Colorado last night, I may just say fuck it and play my Ukulele for a couple of hours and call it even.

 

[NOIRTRASH]

Occasionally, tho, some of it is epiphany. But my best thinking is usually lost in plain sight.

 

[ishtat]

Churchill was known for his 'spontaneous wit' He admitted in one of his books that when he thought of a good line he would write it down and, wait sometimes for years, for the right moment to use it.