Rules of Thumb 3

 And four from me. That is, four rules of thumb that work for me.

• Sit quietly and wait for something to come up. (Something always does.)

• Same time, same place, every day. (It’s a date with myself. I’m just thinking, making notes. Sitting at a keyboard comes later.)

• You can talk about it or you can write about it. (I’m one of those who can’t do both.)

• It’s done when you are satisfied you can’t make it better.

And one footnote in the way of an explanation about one of William Maxwell’s rules of thumb:

• The first-person narrator is a character, not a narration device.

Maxwell was talking about fiction. The narrator of a short story or novel has to have a resume, a past, a story he tells himself about his past, quirks, foibles, even a wardrobe. Even if you don’t use the information, you should know whether your narrator was invited to join the Lions Club or the Rotary Club.

It’s not the same thing, but people who write columns for newspapers should think about that advice. A columnist who cultivates a kindly, folksy persona and then, before the election, turns combative and begins to call people stupid, might be making a mistake. In some sense, readers see a columnist as character, rather than a human being.