Tag: Writing

Poetry Show Thyself

Leave a comment
“Unlike many other areas of life, when you write poetry you are expected to be a little odd. You might even be celebrated for this oddness. You can embrace all that is eccentric about yourself — and even cultivate new eccentricities. You can do this on the page or in real life, and no one blinks. Because you’re a Poet. And poetry is not bound by a strict set of rules. (The only rule is there are no rules.) It’s quite liberating, actually. And allows you to invest more fully in the best poem of all: You, Your Life.”
— Irene Latham / guest post on katiedavis.com

Great tools for poets of all levels!

Lean Writing Is Strength

Leave a comment
[found on entrepreneur.com; by Susan Gunelius]

“As Mark Twain famously wrote, “I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.” His point? Strong writing is lean writing.

When you want to make your writing more powerful, cut out words you don’t need–such as the 10 included in this post:

1. Just: The word “just” is a filler word that weakens your writing. Removing it rarely affects meaning, but rather, the deletion tightens a sentence.

2. Really: Using the word “really” is an example of writing the way you talk. It’s a verbal emphasis that doesn’t translate perfectly into text. In conversation, people use the word frequently, but in written content it’s unnecessary. Think about the difference between saying a rock is “hard” and “really hard,” for example. What does the word add? Better to cut it out to make your message stronger.

3. Very: Everything that applies to “really” applies to “very.” It’s a weak word. Cut it.

4. Perhaps/maybe: Do you want your audience to think you’re uncertain about what you’re saying? When you use words like “maybe” and “perhaps,” uncertainty is exactly what you’re communicating.

5. Quite: When someone uses “quite,” he or she either means “a bit” or “completely” or “almost.” Sometimes the word adds meaning; sometimes it’s fluff. Learn to tell the difference–but, when in doubt, cut it out. 

6. Amazing: The meaning of “amazing” is causing great wonder or surprise–but some writers use the word so often that the meaning gets lost. How can something be amazing if everything is? Ditch this diluted word.

7. Literally: When something is true in a literal sense, you don’t have to add the word “literally.” The only reason it makes sense to use the word is when it clarifies meaning (i.e., to explain you aren’t joking when it seems you are).

8. Stuff: Unless you are aiming at informality, don’t use the word “stuff.” It’s casual, it’s generic, and it usually stands in for something better.

9. Things: Writers use the word “things” to avoid using a clearer, more specific word that would communicate more meaning. Be specific. Don’t tell us about the “10 things,” tell us about the “10 books” or “10 strategies.” Specificity makes for better writing.

10. Got: Think of all the ways we use the vague word “got” in conversation: “I’ve got to go,” “I got a ball,” or “I got up this morning.” Though it’s fine for conversation, in writing, “got” misses valuable opportunities. Rather than writing a lazy word, look for clearer, more descriptive language: “I promised I’d leave by 9,” “I picked up a ball,” or “I woke up today,” for example.

Whether you’ve been writing for a few days or for many years, you’ll benefit from evaluating the words you use. Cut the filler to make your writing stronger.”

[found on http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/229369]

Authors Speak

Leave a comment
[found on timeout.com; by Nadia Chaudhury]

“Mike Burns (@DadBoner)
Power Moves: Livin’ the American Dream, USA Style (It Books, $15.99)
“I believe you should be emotionally bonded to the people you write about, whether they be real or fictional. Feel sad for their hardships and happy for their triumphs. If you aren’t truly attached to your subjects, chances are the reader won’t be either. Music is very important to my writing process. I’m fascinated by the idea of using letters as a way to transform sound into images and colors in another person’s brain like some sort of sensory alchemy. Just like great films, great writing needs a great score, even if it can’t be heard.”

Edwidge Danticat (facebook.com/edwidgedanticat)
Claire of the Sea Light (Knopf, $25.95)
“It might sound corny but listen to your heart. Let that inner voice guide you, the one closest to your truest self. The story you are most afraid to tell might be your truest one, your deepest one. Don’t let neither success nor failure deter you. Remember the excitement of those first days, those first words, those first sentences—and keep going.”

Ben Dolnick (bendolnick.com)
At the Bottom of Everything (Pantheon, $24.95)
“Get a kitchen timer. Writers are ingenious at redefining what qualifies as doing work (‘If I just spend this morning cleaning my desk…’). A kitchen timer tolerates no such nonsense. Set yourself a daily writing quota (as little as a half hour is fine at first), set the clock and get to work.”

Stephen Elliott (@S___Elliott, stephenelliott.com)
The Adderall Diaries (Graywolf Press, $14); founding editor, The Rumpus (therumpus.net)
“You still have to make something really, really good. That’s the nut of it all. And the more time you spend ‘cultivating relationships,’ the less time you spend creating meaningful art. One of those things will do more for you than the other.””

To read more from successful authors shared from TimeOut, click HERE.

[found on http://www.timeout.com/newyork/things-to-do/fifteen-successful-authors-share-their-best-writing-tips]

Hundreds of Writing Tips? Yes, please.

Leave a comment

Here are a few…

[found on writetodone.com; by ]
    1. “Be open, curious, present, and engaged.
    2. Accept all forms of criticism and learn to grow from it.
    3. Live with passion.
    4. Say to everyone: “I’m a writer.”
    5. Recognize your fear and overcome it.
    6. Rethink what is ‘normal’.
    7. Check if your assumptions are right.
    8. Accept no excuses.
    9. Break out of your comfort zone.
    10. Approach writing with gratitude, not just with a ‘must do this’ attitude.
    11. Take risks – don’t be afraid to shock. You are not who you think you are.
    12. Always think of your readers.
    13. Learn to LOVE writing and reading.
    14. Write like you’re on your first date.
    15. Simply let things be what they are.
    16. Expose yourself to as many new experiences in a short amount of time as possible.
    17. Love your tools. As St. Bumpersticker says, “My fountain pen can write better than your honor student!”
    18. Embrace your shadow. Discover what traits and characteristics you don’t want to express.
    19. Write to agitate the mind and the nerves.”

To read the rest of these 201 great writing tips, click HERE.

[found on http://writetodone.com/how-to-be-a-writer]

Learning To Write

1 Comment
[found on nicholassparks.com]

On Learning The Craft of Writing:

“Research

First, there are entire books written on this subject, and it’s important to realize that any information provided here will be in greatly abbreviated form. With that in mind, the first step would be to read a variety of books on the craft of writing. On Writing by Stephen King, The Elements of Style by William Strunk and E.B. White, Creating Fiction edited by Julie Checkoway, and A Dangerous Profession by Frederick Busch, are but a few that I would recommend.  I also like Screenplay by Sid Field, which isn’t about novel writing, but has a lot of useful information. These titles are enough to get you started and there are countless other books on the topic that will help as well, for everything from creating characters to coming up with plots.

Read

Second, you must read, and read a lot. Did I say A LOT? I read over a hundred books a year and have done so since I was fifteen years old, and every book I’ve read has taught me something. I’ve learned that some authors are incredible at building suspense (see The Firm by John Grisham), I’ve read others that scare the jeepers out of me (see The Shining by Stephen King). Some authors can weave an incredible number of story lines into a single, coherent novel, with all parts coming together at the end that makes it impossible to stop turning the pages (see The Sum of all Fears by Tom Clancy), while other authors make me laugh out loud (seeBloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore). I’ve also learned that many, many authors fail when attempting to do these things. By reading a lot of novels in a variety of genres, and asking questions, it’s possible to learn how things are done—the mechanics of writing, so to speak—and which genres and authors excel in various areas.

Next, focus in on the genre you want to write, and read books in that genre. A LOT of books by a variety of authors. And read with questions in your mind. In a thriller, for instance, you might ask: how many characters were there? Too many or too few? How long was the novel? How many chapters were there? Was that too few, too many or just right? How did the author build suspense? Did the author come out of nowhere with a surprise? Or did the author drop hints earlier? If so, how many hints? Where in the novel did he put them? Was the suspenseful scene primarily narrative or dialogue? Or a combination of both? Did that work? Would it have been better another way? Where did the bad guys come in? In the beginning? The middle? When did they first meet the good guy? What happened? Did the reader know they were bad? Did they do something bad right off, or was it something that seemed good at the time?

Then, read another thriller and ask yourself those questions again. Then read another and another and another and ask those same questions. And keep reading your entire life and asking questions.

Little by little, you’ll learn the process.

Write

The final step is to write. You can’t be a writer if you don’t write, it’s just that simple. I wrote two complete novels and another book before I even attempted to write The Notebook. Those two novels are unpublished, but they taught me that I not only liked to write, but that I had it in me to finish a novel once I’d started it. Those lessons were important when I sat down to write The Notebook.

I write five or six days a week, usually a minimum of 2000 words, sometimes more. This section of the website, for instance, which took about four days to write, is about 20,000 words. When it’s finished, I’ll start writing something else. All people who regard writing as a profession write consistently. Those who regard it as a hobby usually don’t.

2000 words can take anywhere from three to eight hours. (I love those three-hour days, by the way, but my average is probably closer to five hours.) The actual time spent writing depends on a number of factors, including what I’m writing, whether the scene is difficult or easy, etc. No matter what, I try to maintain consistency in my work habits. And I’m always trying to improve, to try new things, to write a new story that is better than anything else I’ve written.”

To read more from Nicholas Sparks (including how to write query letters, and how to find agents, click HERE.

[found on http://nicholassparks.com/for-writers]

Curious Forge

Leave a comment

“Our job as writers is to be as curious as a child, to see things for the first time, and to never assume. We must always be willing to surrender our idea of the story to allow the larger story to emerge. We are seeking to understand the nature of things, the underlying forces at work.” 

― Alan Watt, The 90-Day Novel: Unlock the story within