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I have drifted along hopelessly for a hundred pages of manuscript without knowing where to commence.
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“I have drifted along hopelessly for a hundred pages of manuscript without knowing where to commence.”

Mark Twain

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Source
The Innocents Abroad
Date
1869
Meaning

Meaning of “I have drifted along hopelessly for a hundred…”

Twain makes comic use of the writer’s structural problem: abundant material can still leave a narrator unsure where a supposedly orderly account should begin.

Source context

Where does it come from?

The Innocents Abroad (1869), Chapter XXVIII. In the same closing Rome passage Twain says he has drifted for a hundred manuscript pages without knowing where to commence, turning the abundance of material into a joke about structure and authorship. Verified against the scan-backed 1869 first edition.

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ArtCommunicationCreativityFunnyProductivityWritingProcrastination
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The surest way to stop writing about Rome is to stop.
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“The surest way to stop writing about Rome is to stop.”

Mark Twain · The Innocents Abroad · 1869
Meaning & context

The deliberately obvious sentence mocks the difficulty of ending an overfull account when a subject offers more material than the writer can organize.

Source details

The Innocents Abroad (1869), Chapter XXVIII. Near the close of the long Rome discussion Twain says that the surest way to stop writing about Rome is to stop, immediately before abandoning his attempted guide-book chapter. Verified against the scan-backed 1869 first edition.

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Romance at short notice was her speciality.
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“Romance at short notice was her speciality.”

Saki · The Open Window · 1914
Meaning & context

The closing sentence reveals Vera’s instant invention of another plausible story, turning the tale’s deception into a compact joke about her talent for improvisation.

Source details

“The Open Window,” collected in Beasts and Super-Beasts, Project Gutenberg #269. The line follows Vera’s invented explanation for Framton Nuttel’s terrified departure; it is comic fictional narration about a deceptive storyteller.

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As to the Adjective: when in doubt, strike it out.
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“As to the Adjective: when in doubt, strike it out.”

Mark Twain · Pudd’nhead Wilson’s Calendar · 1894
Voice: Epigraph / fictional source voice · Pudd’nhead Wilson’s Calendar
Meaning & context

The mock rule is comic in its bluntness but also functions as concise writing advice: unnecessary modifiers can weaken direct expression when the writer is unsure they earn their place.

Source details

Pudd’nhead Wilson, Chapter XI epigraph; the sentence follows the three-part author compliment in the Calendar sequence.

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Must get the scraper removed, or else I shall get into a scrape. I don’t often make jokes.
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“Must get the scraper removed, or else I shall get into a scrape. I don’t often make jokes.”

George Grossmith and Weedon Grossmith · The Diary of a Nobody · 1892
Voice: Fictional narrator · Charles Pooter
Meaning & context

The deliberately weak pun is followed by Pooter’s proud announcement that he rarely jokes, making his satisfaction with the line more comic than the wordplay itself.

Source details

The Diary of a Nobody, Chapter I, April 4 entry; Project Gutenberg #1026. After Cummings trips over the scraper while leaving, Charles Pooter writes “Must get the scraper removed, or else I shall get into a scrape. I don’t often make jokes.” The deliberately weak pun and Pooter’s pride in it are part of the novel’s characterization and comic timing.

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True wit is nature to advantage dress’d; what oft was thought, but ne’er so well express’d.
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“True wit is nature to advantage dress’d; what oft was thought, but ne’er so well express’d.”

Alexander Pope · An Essay on Criticism · 1711
Meaning & context

Strong expression often succeeds not by inventing an alien idea but by giving memorable form to something many people already sensed.

Source details

Part II of An Essay on Criticism; Pope defines wit through clear expression of recognizable truth.

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Omit needless words.
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“Omit needless words.”

William Strunk Jr. · The Elements of Style · 1920
Meaning & context

Conciseness is treated as removal of words that do no useful work, not as a demand that every sentence be short or stripped of necessary detail.

Source details

The Elements of Style, Chapter III, Rule 13, Project Gutenberg #37134; the surrounding paragraph explicitly says detail need not be eliminated.

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