I like my own writing

Today's DIY photo:   spiral notebook with a hand holding a pen poised over fresh white lined paper.  (Got it?  I do appreciate your contribution in this area, dear reader.)

I was chatting with my daughter this morning, the one who blogs over here.  We were talking about blogs and research papers and writing and I commented that I enjoy returning to what I've written in the past.  Even when I don't remember writing it and can't fill in any gaps that didn't make it from mind swirls into words, I still enjoy reading it.  Is that a good thing?  Would I like it even better if I invested in some schooling on the art of writing and allowed an instructor to hone my skills?  What does it say about the development of my skills if I can go back eons in time to the beginning of this blog -- AKA eight years -- and find pleasure in reviewing my own words from that less mature time of life.

I once read a book that had been republished a decade or two or three after it was written.  In the introduction, the author said the publisher had offered him a chance to revise and update it.  He read it through and decided he liked it as it was, that other than using fewer commas he wouldn't change a thing.  And he didn't.  Even the excessive commas were left in.  As I read it I understood why the publisher had given him a chance to revise it and thought he would have been ahead of the game to take that chance.

I am reminded of that book when I find such pleasure in words written by my own hand in times past.  Apparently, I'm not making much progress with my writing skills.

Here's an example of my early blogging -- on writing.  I did do one tiny edit.  I have gradually noticed an overuse of "that" in my writing and deleted one instance.  Any suggestions as to further edits?  It's nice that blogger posts are forever editable.