From Dingus Milktoast Doing cutting edge climbs isn't a requirement for a good TR (since only a scant handful of climbers here are capable of such feats anyway). Here are a few suggestions for those interested in creating more entertaining TR's... (based upon my opinion and experience alone, such as they are) 1. The Devil is in the details. And most of us just are not interested. So when someone starts a TR with how poorly their summer has gone, or why their wife left them, or how their job sucks, they lose many potential readers. Too, if a writer gets into the intimate details of rack selection, or blow by blow accounts of individual pitches, many will sign off (permanently in many cases). And personally, I don't want blow by blow accounts of easy trade routes, top rope visits to the local crag, or dare I say it, a TR about a gym visit. These types of TR's are incredibly boring and are destined for the electronic round file even before they're posted. 2. Decide on a theme for your TR and stick to it. And mix that theme from report to report. So one TR might focus on partner dynamics. Another might focus on fear management. Blah blah. Use the TR and your experience on a route to make a point. The point then becomes the reason for reading the TR instead of yet another account of, um, climbing the Nose or something. 3. Develop your style. Sure, use, borrow and steal (you know who you are...) as you and your conscious see fit. But always remember, a poor copy is a poor copy. Better to start and fail at something truly your own than to copy and fail with someone else's work, themes, etc. 4. When you write a TR, save it and leave it alone for a decent period of time. Then, dredge it up and do a rewrite. I often have to insert humor (what little there is) well after the initial draft of a TR for example. 5. EDIT YOUR WORK! Can't say enough about this. If you're going to go to the trouble of posting your TR, you owe it to yourself to make it as solid as possible. It is very difficult to edit your own work however. I can't discern misspelled words that I wrote, but I can spot those of another a mile away. My mind knows what I meant to write and will continue to insist that wird is spelled correctly, even though it isn't (like that?). It takes strong discipline and attention to detail to do proper editing. 6. Get a trusted friend (hopefully an intelligent one too) to critique your writing. 7. Don't take yourself, your climbs or your writing too seriously. You can do that when you're getting paid for it. As it is, we're all amateurs and we're all equals (except some of us are MUCH MORE equal than others... hah!). 8. Having said don't take yourself too seriously, also keep in mind that on rec.climbing, your words are who you are. Sloppy writing and poor editing is akin to unwashed hair, dirty fingernails, a dead lawn and unbrushed teeth. If that's how you want the world to see you... that is in fact how the world will see you. Personally, I don't want anyone to think I'm illiterate and uneducated (even though I am). The reasons many don't write TR's is encompassed above. Writing a good TR isn't climbing. It's work. And it's a type of work that is boring to some, a waste of time to others and beyond the grasp of more than a few. The guy who said writing clear and concise English is easy (paraphrasing here) must be from Mars or something. Writing clear and concise English is exceedingly difficult and quite beyond the capabilities of the average American. And that's the truth. DMT