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other than bridges.”
    â€œWhy?”
    Mr. Haughton sat back in his chair and stroked his chin. It was the first time I ever saw someone do that except in a movie.
    â€œDouglas, Douglas, Douglas …,” he said to give himself time to think. “Let me try to explain. …” Mr. Haughton can be ponderous at times. “The writer is like a bridge builder. When you set words down on paper, you are building a bridge between yourself and the reader. And if what you write fails to engage the reader, your effort has been in vain. You have built a bridge to nowhere. Do you understand what I am saying?”
    â€œThe writer is like a bridge builder.”
    â€œYes. The bridges you build are, in fact, deliberate acts of communication. But if what you are writing is not interesting, then you have wasted your time. Do you understand?”
    â€œYou don’t find bridges interesting.”
    â€œYes. I mean no. The problem is not with bridges per se . It is the fact that you describe your model bridge in such excruciating detail, with so much repetition, with so many measurements and formulas and numbers … the fact is, very few readers will be able to follow your thoughts.”
    â€œDo you think I need to explain more?”
    â€œNo!” He almost shouted the word, then closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Douglas, I just think thatif you were to write on a topic that was not so … important to you, your writing might in fact be clearer and more readable. As a related comment on your work, I’d like to remind you that when I ask for a three page essay, it is not necessary for you to turn in a thirty page dissertation.”
    â€œSome of those pages were drawings and photographs.”
    â€œYes, well, even so, you must have had five thousand words in there.”
    â€œFour thousand nine hundred thirteen.” That’s seventeen cubed, but I don’t bother pointing that out to Mr. Haughton. “You said that we could write a longer essay for extra credit.”
    â€œI did? Oh, well, perhaps I did … but in the future, Douglas … please consider another topic. That’s all I’m saying.”
    As you can see, Mr. Haughton is not a clear-thinking individual. What he says actually makes little sense. Consider the following useful information that Mr. Haughton wanted me to cut out of my essay:
    Â 
    Total length of bridge: 3.33 meters. Length of main span: 2.34 meters. Width of bridge: 7 cm. Clearance above water: 12 cm. Height of towers: 34 cm. Number of main cables: 2. Composition of main cables: braided 1/4-inch nylon cord (orange). Number of stringers: 391. Composition of stringers: cotton string (dyed orange). Inches of thread used: 6,092 cm. Number of matchsticks used: 8,600. Paints used: semigloss enamel(International Orange) and matte enamel (Battleship Gray).
    I might also mention that he is dead wrong when he says that writing and bridge building are the same thing. They are actually quite different. I know, because I am quite good at both of them.

15
GEORGE FULLER
    T he bridge deck is where most of the matchsticks go. Each 2.125-inch segment of the deck requires fifty-two matchsticks, which have to be glued together in a double layer with each match staggered so that the segments dovetail together and lock like LEGO blocks, end to end, plus the railing and cross members. Sixty-two of these interlocking segments make up the bridge deck, and it is important that each segment be constructed to precise tolerances.
    (Am I boring you? Mr. Haughton would call this boring, but I find it quite fascinating.)
    Only about a third of the matches are straightenough to use, which is why I have already gone through sixty boxes. I am very selective and very precise. Each deck segment is glued one at a time. I made a jig out of some pieces of scrap oak so that every segment will come out exactly the same. So far I have manufactured fifty-seven of these