“The writer must believe that what he is doing is the most important thing in the world. And he must hold to this illusion even when he knows it is not true.”
— John Steinbeck
Tag: writer
Engineer of Souls
Simple [decluttered] Writing
William Zinsser on the need for simplicity in writing:
“Clutter is the disease of American writing. We are a society strangling in unnecessary words, circular constructions, pompous frills and meaningless jargon.
Who can understand the clotted language of everyday American commerce: the memo, the corporation report, the business letter, the notice from the bank explaining its latest “simplified” statement? What member of an insurance or medical plan can decipher the brochure explaining his costs and benefits? What father or mother can put together a child’s toy from the instructions on the box? Our national tendency is to inflate and thereby sound important. The airline pilot who announces that he is presently anticipating experiencing considerable precipitation wouldn’t think of saying it may rain. The sentence is too simple—there must be something wrong with it.
But the secret of good writing is to strip every sentence to its cleanest components. Every word that serves no function, every long word that could be a short word, every adverb that carries the same meaning that’s already in the verb, every passive construction that leaves the reader unsure of who is doing what—these are the thousand and one adulterants that weaken the strength of a sentence….”
William Zinsser’s book, On Writing Well, is an excellent resource for writers of all kinds. You can find it here.
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A Writer Is…
“A writer is somebody for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.”
— Thomas Mann
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Market the Author
[by Billi Joy Carson, Senior Editor/ Editing Addict]
Editor Tip: Market the Author
If you are an author, a blogger, or a copywriter…then correct spelling, punctuation, word use, and grammar is a necessity in all areas of your writing…books, blogs, marketing, advertisements, social media, queries, submissions, letters, and emails.
Why…?
I can hear the horrified gasps, feel the eyes rolling—doubt and fear from writers everywhere. Panic in the streets.
Before you throw your hands up, and stop reading, let’s look at the WHY behind this necessity.
You are always marketing YOU.
Your books come and go, but you, the author, remain constant. You are the first line of defense when it comes to marketing yourself—which you are doing every day, every time you write…anything.
You are marketing not only to readers, but to publishers, agents, editors, and your fellow authors who would network with you. You are marketing your writing ability—yes—but you are ALSO marketing your organization capabilities, your attention to details, your desire for accuracy….
What if you don’t care about details and accuracy? Publishers do.
Publishers, editors, and agents notice. In this world of instant access, through social media and blogs, your everyday comments and posts are seen.
If an author can’t be trusted to use the right word in 140 characters, why would they trust the author with a 300-page book?
Agents, editors, and publishers (oh my!) have deadlines. Organization is a big part of that. Make it appear you are organized—even if you have to fake it.
Here are some excellent tools to keep close to you, always. I suggest bookmarking them, as well as storing them on your smart phones and tablets—wherever you write, post, and email.
OneLook.com
- Dictionary compilation of over 1000 dictionaries
- Correct spelling not needed
- It offers options for word spelling
- Shows several dictionaries, with links.
- Breaks search answers into four categories
- General
- Business (language)
- Computing (language)
- Slang*
- *Words that haven’t made it into traditional dictionaries will show up here.
- *Caution: When writing items for publishing (versus informal social media, emails…), only use a Chicago Manual of Style approved dictionary, like Merriam-Webster.
Other dictionaries:
- Dictionary.com (GREAT tool, but not CMS approved)
- Merriam-Webster.com
Thesaurus:
Grammar:
- Grammarly.com (not CMS approved, but still a great tool)
- Copy/paste text in box—it shows grammar errors and weaknesses
- Guide to Grammar & Writing
- Quick lookup for parts of speech, word use, and grammar rules
Style Guides:
- The Chicago Manual of Style Online
- Requires a yearly membership, but is GOLD for authors & editors
- Standard for most publication (certain types of writing e.g. science and psychology have their own style guides)
Questions for the editor to answer next time:
[by Billi Joy Carson, Senior Editor / Editing Addict]
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Misunderstood Disturbance
“To be misunderstood can be the writer’s punishment for having disturbed the reader’s peace. The greater the disturbance, the greater the possibility of misunderstanding.”
— Anatole Broyard
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Live & Write, But Don’t Live & Write
“The writer must earn money in order to be able to live and to write, but he must by no means live and write for the purpose of making money.”
— Karl Marx
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Motivation IS Possible
[found on time.com; by Eric Barker]
“You make goals… but then you procrastinate.
You write a to-do list… but then you don’t follow through.
And this happens again and again and again. Seriously, what’s the problem?
Why are we so good at thinking of what to do but so terrible at actually doing those things?
The problem is you’re skipping an essential step. Here’s what it is….
Productivity systems rarely take emotions into account. And feelings are a fundamental and unavoidable part of why humans do what they do.
We can’t ignore our emotions. Because of the way our brains are structured, when thought and feelings compete, feelings almost always win.
And we can’t fight our feelings. Research shows this just makes them stronger….
We need to think to plan but we need to feel to act.
So if you’ve got the thinking part out of the way – how do you rile up those emotions and get things done?
Get Positive
When do we procrastinate the most? When we’re in a bad mood.Get Rewarded
Rewards feel good. Penalties feel bad. And that’s why they both can work well for motivating you. Research shows that rewards are responsible for three-quarters of why you do things.Get Peer Pressure
Surround yourself with people you want to be and it’s far less taxing to do what you should be doing.”
To read the rest of the motivating article from Eric Barker, and add his knowledge to your toolbox, click HERE.
[found on http://time.com/2933971/how-to-motivate-yourself-3-steps-backed-by-science/]
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Creative Pattern Recognition
“Storytelling is ultimately a creative act of pattern recognition. Through characters, plot and setting, a writer creates places where previously invisible truths become visible. Or the storyteller posits a series of dots that the reader can connect.”
— Douglas Coupland
Editing Addict, LLC 