the naming of parts

There was an overtone of strain in her smile. It wasn’t a smile at all. It was a grimace. She just thought it was a smile. – Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep

I am beginning to sense, in my own prose, a layer of existentialist overtone. I thought I was creating a kind of surrealist detachment, but I wasn’t. I had merely made muddy water.

One demand I am making of myself is to see and articulate clearly.

A smile is different from a grimace. Just like a chair is different from a stool which is different from a bench; just like a table is different from a desk.

Strive to be clear. And today we have the naming of parts.