On Expository Writing

I've published a couple of 'major' articles here now. They're both still works in progress.

I've noticed something about them that I should find quite unsettling, but don't. I seem to have a bit of difficulty keeping person and tense consistent. There's a reason for that.

My perspective often changes as I go. Sometimes I'm writing in complete hindsight, relating how an operation or a sequence of operations was/were performed. Sometimes I'm writing about what I'm going to do next. Sometimes I'm writing practically in the moment, as I arrive at a point of discovery or decision, and I feel as if the reader is in the shop with me to witness it.

Consequently, my sense of person and tense fluctuates, and I'm not sure I have the intellectual wherewithal to resolve that perfectly, so I'm not even going to try. This is a different medium from a hard-copy magazine, and I may as well let it take me where it will. Should I receive some compelling advice, criticism or instruction on this, I'll reconsider my position.

Another thing I've noticed is that I may be looking like a shill for various makers of tools and materials. I touched on this in my first post, but let me restate it. I've read a lot of magazine articles that were vague on details of what exactly it was that was used to accomplish something or other, and/or where they got it. I don't do vagueness. I write here to impart information. It so happens that Dremel made my hand grinder, and Bennett made the wood veneer tape that works so well for me; credit where it's due.

I may return to this subject now and then. There's more to it than meets the eye.

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