On Writing — Medium

“I don’t appreciate plagiarism,” he said dryly, staring down at me over the top of his glasses. “You’re either the best writer I’ve seen in 25 years of teaching or you’re a plagiarist. Which is it?” Well, I wasn’t a plagiarist, I assured him. “Then you’re in the wrong major,” he replied. “You need to…

“I don’t appreciate plagiarism,” he said dryly, staring down at me over the top of his glasses. “You’re either the best writer I’ve seen in 25 years of teaching or you’re a plagiarist. Which is it?”

Well, I wasn’t a plagiarist, I assured him.

“Then you’re in the wrong major,” he replied. “You need to be developing this skill, putting it to use. You should be publishing already.”

via On Writing — Medium.

We’ve been enjoying Doctrine Man’s humor on Facebook for years. But recently, he’s begun writing at Medium, and it’s not for humor, but thoughtful pieces.

We don’t consider ourselves particularly gifted at writing. Occasionally we write something we think is pretty good. And then we toss up some crap, and guess which post gets the most traffic?

But nothing improves your writing, like writing.

Each and every one of you who reads this, veteran, active duty, civilian, has a story to tell. It might not be your story, but it should be memorialized somewhere.

You can write for a serious purpose. Or humorous. Or to vent. We often write because we find that tapping at the keyboard actually clarifies our thinking on a subject. Trying to explain an issue or subject forces us to ensure we have a clear vision of that matter.

So write. Start a free wordpress blog. Heck, submit a post for my consideration.  Write a poem. Tell a joke.

But don’t miss out on the opportunity to share.

We’ve never enjoyed writing. We still don’t. But we started this blog in 2008 because we felt compelled to share. What’s taking you so long?

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  1. David Navarre

    Get on in there, folks! If you’re not writing, you ought to be.

    Reading through a book on British soldiers in the American Revolution and the written materials from those veterans is sparse. The vast majority of accounts that survive (I think the total available to that author is 9 accounts) were written by deserters or those about to be executed for crimes (including, of course, desertion). It’s not that most British soldiers were criminals, just that the circumstances worked out that way. (A few of them are accounts given by the accused on the day of their execution, which was a popular confessional habit and often published both for distribution at the execution and later.)

    So, in order to make sure that all the accounts aren’t by people seeking the limelight, each of YOU needs to start contributing. Just start writing.

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  2. Esli

    What’s taking so long, he asks… primarily the time I spend at work. Though I have multiple articles in various states of readiness to submissions t for publication, with the lead one being on the integration of multinational companies into US battalions.

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