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January 21, 2007
People generally don't puke or end up in physical therapy when writing magazine articles: With all due respect to A Writer's Blog (which I enjoy, like and respect), I think it's time we add "ran a marathon" to the list of overused cliches and lazy constructions:
"Today I turned in a HUGE assignment. 3,000 words huge. I’m exhausted. I feel as though I’ve run a marathon. " I ran a marathon and I've done my share of 3,000-word assignments. Hell, I did a 100,000-word assignment. And the two don't compare. For most people a marathon is at least a six-month training commitment and a rather grueling day. On deadline I'm pretty sure I could bang out a 3,000-word article in a shorter time than it took me to actually run Dublin. Most of the runners I know could write a magazine article if they had to, but it doesn;t work the other way around -- most of the writers I know really like to smoke.
But beyond that, it's one of those lazy pieces of writing that shows up all the time.
I'll be the first to admit there are accomplishments far more grueling than running a marathon. But saying "I feel like I just passed the bar exam" isn't as much fun as saying "I've run a marathon." Comparing some mundane task to giving birth would raise the ire of any woman who has actually gone through labor and raised a child.
So we resort to using the "marathon" construction all the time. It's particularly favored by community newspaper reporters who can't resist the tempting alliteration of "marathon meeting." While you're at it, you might as well throw in that there's a freeze on overtime pay at your paper, kid. What's wrong with the more precise and more telling "three hour meeting" or "meeting that ended after midnight"?
How about we try this for awhile? We'll use the words "I feel like I ran a marathon" only if we actually ran a marathon and are describing that experience as opposed to, say, helping a buddy move over the course of a long weekend or waiting in line at the Registry of Motor Vehicles?Labels: writing
Posted at 7:30 AM
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