The Taste of Champagne, Writing & A Blog Tip To Celebrate The 850th Post

growing up, alcohol tasted putrid. it consisted of super sweet cough syrupy wine filled tiny plastic cups. the toxin branded as manischewitz often sanctified the sabbath. new year’s eve was worse. a yellowish carbonated liquid masqueraded as a soft drink. for eight dollars a bottle, shouldn’t it taste better than coca cola?

as a young attorney, a night out with my firm at wally’s desert turtle changed my life. in a festive mood, my boss’ wife splurged and ordered bottles of an orange labeled champagne. i was terrified. i feared my negative reaction tasting it could impact my job. these chilled bottles from france could be holding my budding legal career in the balance! the cork was popped and the bubbly flowed. i imbibed. at that point, there was no need to act- the high school monologue from “of mice to men” was not necessary- the taste was fantastic. “oh, this is why people love champagne!”

in that moment, i realized that all too often, we are deprived of the “good stuff”. the authentic. people develop passions for items when they get the “real deal”. instead, we mostly meander through life with opinions shaped on poor imitations of the original or the actual. inspired by the moment, i began a quest to find and experience the “real” stuff in life.

with blogging, my deficit was writing. while i could write, i couldn’t really write. i often faked a bad hemmingway to believe i was doing something literary. short sentences and simple words would do. this insecurity- along with my obscure posting style- led me on a quest for help. in this journey, i collected many books on writing. some of the more modern of these books were fantastic. not just for the pointers, but for their writing. reading “really” good writing is inspiring. these great books often referenced back to on writing well: the classic guide to writing nonfiction by mr. william zinsser.

while rummaging though a library book sale, i came across the book. despite being beaten up and tattered, i paid full freight, a dollar, hoping the words would be better than its appearance. the book is foundational in nature, commonsensical. many of those who wrote admiration for the book actually brought their writing to the next level. zinsser’s book, in the grand scheme, serves as guide rather than an example of great craft.

with these books, the lesson has been the emphasis on the reader. the reader, the reader, the reader. the words are meant to be read. thus, contemplating the readers’ reaction is important. will they be confused by the writing? will they be bored? will they enjoy the read even though it is not necessarily a topic that they are interested in? with this in mind, quality writing is the authentic; it is intoxicating for the eyes. it is just one of the ways that you can deliver readers to your blog.

be well!!

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