QUOTE : Just as the verbal illustrations are not the place to try to hone your skills as a novelist, they are also not the place to work out your feelings about your latest breakup or other assorted existential crises. If I am copyediting your batch and see a string of verbal illustrations like < I wonder why I do this job >, < thinking dark thoughts >, and < all hope is lost >, I will stop to wonder if you are okay, and then I will have to leave my desk and speak to you in person, which will terrify us both.