Tag: English Language
Big Game Writer
“Writing is like hunting. There are brutally cold afternoons with nothing in sight, only the wind and your breaking heart. Then the moment when you bag something big. The entire process is beyond intoxicating.”
― Kate Braverman
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Guts, Not Talent…Necessarily.
How to Write a Play
[found on backstage.com]
“1. The play does not always start at the beginning. Sometimes the first scene you write ends up in the middle of the play. This happens because when I write, I’m really channeling the voices of my characters. 2. A play is made up of moments that the character experiences as the story is revealed. 3. Ernest Hemigway said: “Good writing is true writing.” The best writing comes from trusting your gut feeling! 4. Even though every play or story has a beginning, a climactic moment, and a resolution, i stay true to the story by not trying to control it. 5. Teach the audience through laughter. The audience is able then to sympathize with their struggles and acquire a new sense of understanding for the world in which these characters live.”[found on http://www.backstage.com/advice-for-actors/first-person/5-tips-writing-play]
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Artist Perfection
“The work never matches the dream of perfection the artist has to start with.”
– William Faulkner
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Trust Your Readers
“No one can write decently who is distrustful of the reader’s intelligence or whose attitude is patronizing.”
– E. B. White
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Tips for Children’s Books
[found on dummies.com]
“At some point after you have a solid draft of the children’s book you’re writing, you must begin the editing process. Here’s a quick overview of the salient points to keep in mind.
- If a sentence doesn’t contribute to plot or character development, delete it.
- Make sure your characters don’t all sound the same when they speak.
- If you have a page or more of continuous dialogue, chances are it needs tightening.
- When changing place or time, or starting a new scene or chapter, provide brief transitions to keep your story moving smoothly.
- Make sure to keep the pace moving from action to action, scene to scene, chapter to chapter.
- If you find yourself using a lot of punctuation (!!!), CAPITAL LETTERS, italics, or bold, chances are your words aren’t working hard enough for you.
- When you can find one word to replace two or more words, do it.
- Be careful with changing tenses midstream. If your story is told in the past tense, stick with it throughout. If present tense, then stick with that. Be consistent.
- Watch excessive use of adjectives, adverbs, and long descriptive passages.
- After you choose a point of view for a character, stick to it.
- If your character hasn’t changed at the end of your story, chances are he isn’t yet fully fleshed out.
- If your character talks to himself or does a lot of wondering aloud, he needs a friend to talk to.
- If you’re bored with a character, your reader will be, too.
- If you can’t tell your story in three well-crafted sentences: the first one covering the beginning, the second one alluding to the climax (the middle), and the last one hinting at the ending — you may not have a complete story yet.
- If you find yourself overwriting because you’re having trouble expressing exactly what you mean, sit back and say it aloud to yourself, and then try again.”
[found on http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/writing-childrens-books-for-dummies-cheat-sheet.html]
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Finishing A Book…
“Finishing a book is just like you took a child out in the back yard and shot it.”
– Truman Capote
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How trained are your writing muscles?
“Exercise the writing muscle every day, even if it is only a letter, notes, a title list, a character sketch, a journal entry. Writers are like dancers, like athletes. Without that exercise, the muscles seize up.”
– Jane Yolen
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How to Write an Article in 20 Minutes
[found on copyblogger.com]
“I don’t really want to spend more than 20 minutes a day on writing articles. And I spent no more than 20 minutes to write this article.
I realize this is writing blasphemy. Internet marketing is powered by content, and content is king. But when I have a daily schedule to post on and a business to run, I don’t have time to spend hours polishing every single blog post or writing 2,000-word articles.
Writing quickly doesn’t mean compromising on writing well, though. I’ve got seven tips to get you in and out of that composition box in twenty minutes – without sacrificing quality.
1. Keep an idea list.
When inspiration for a post strikes, scribble it down in a notebook or a word file. For many bloggers and content creators, finding the topic to write about takes up half the time. Keeping an idea list lets you leap in to a new post quickly when you’re ready to write.
2. Let your ideas incubate.
If you try to force yourself to come up with supporting information for your brilliant idea right away, it’s going to take ages. Let that topic sit for a few days, though, and you can add new ideas as they occurs to you – and when you’re ready to write, you’ll already have all the supporting info you need.
3. Edit before you start
You’ve probably got twice as many ideas as you need at this point, so it’s time to be brutal. Cut out any supporting idea that doesn’t fit with the main topic of the article. Remember, we’re talking about how to write an article in 20 minutes, not an epic. You can always use the ideas you don’t need for later posts.
4. Use bullet points
Bullet points, or numbered points like “10 Ways to Get More Subscribers”, can make writing an article a lot simpler in terms of organization because you no longer have to figure out transitions from one idea to the next. The great side benefit is that readers like lists; they’re easier for the eye to follow.
5. Keep it short
If you want to finish that article in 20 minutes, try to keep it under 500 words. Don’t feel like you’re skimping on quality content, either: this article is only about 500 words but it’s chockfull of information. Make every word count and you’ll save time without letting quality slip.
6. Come back later
If you find that you’re stuck, don’t try to force the words to come. Save the article and work on something else for awhile. If inspiration strikes, open up that document again. You can even switch from one blog post to another, spending a few minutes on each as ideas comes to you. It’s a huge time-saver.
7. Never save a good idea
It’s tempting, when you look through your list of ideas, to save the best ones for later because you think they’ll be easier to write. You don’t want to save time later, you want to save time now. Do the articles you know will come easily and make the most of that time.
Follow these simple steps and you’ll be on your way to brilliant articles in a fraction of the time.”
Editing Addict, LLC 