Date: Thu, 16 Nov 1995 00:25:51 EST From: Into the Breach! Subject: FILLER: A Tasteful Proposal: Post Your Best Comments: To: "retrograde conciliation, inc!" On one of Bill Moyer's "The Language of Life" programs, Robert Bly talked about a challenge a friend of his posed which has turned into a personal discipline. He writes one poem a day, first thing in the morning. Bill Moyer asked how one could tell if they were writing good poems if you write one a day, and Robert Bly responded, "Oh, you can't. And some of them aren't good at all." (roughly paraphrased by me) When I was in Japan, I made it a habit to write every day. I would write several pieces sometimes, and polish others. Some were reactions to mail from the previous day, some were personal actions (instead of reactions), and so on. Then I would pick the very best piece I had that day, and polish it a bit more. Finally, with all in readiness, I would dial up the system I used for network traffic, download and post my very best, and upload the day's mail. Then I logged off. Later in the day, I would read the mail I had gotten. Very occasionally I would decide there was something that really required a quick reply, but usually I would simply wait until the next day. The cost of the long-distance call was enough to make me very careful about this. That self-discipline of trying to post only one message each day, and that one the best one I had written that day, kept me out of most flamefests and other hurried exchanges. I won't swear that everything I posted was good. But it was the best I could do. Not the fastest, not the instant response that some could give, but the best I knew how to do. Admittedly, we've mostly got a different situation. We have easy, cheap access. But I'd still recommend that you consider the self-discipline of thinking about your posts. You might even want to set yourself a maximum--I will only post once a day--and make it the best posting you can do! tink