Guide to Writing Competitions, Literary Agents & More. Eight Secrets Which Writers Won't Tell You — Aliventures - StumbleUpon. Image from Flickr by Lazurite This is not particularly relevant to the post, but I’m getting an awful lot of comments telling me, often a little snarkily, “it’s ‘THAT’ not ‘WHICH’”.
The “don’t use which for restrictive clauses” rule comes (as far as I can tell) from Strunk and White. Plenty of authors, including Austen, have used “which” exactly as I use it in the title. It’s very commonly used like this here in England, so I’m guessing my comments are coming from US readers. There was never a period in the history of English when “which” at the beginning of a restrictive relative clause was an error. I thought about putting “that” in the title – but I like the sound of “which” between “secrets” and “writers”. And with that out of the way, enjoy the post! A few years ago, I’d look at published writers and think that they were somehow different from me.
They were real writers. I’m going to go through eight secrets. Secret #1: Writing is Hard The truth is, though, that writing is hard. 201 Ways to Arouse Your Creativity | Write to Done - StumbleUpon. Arouse your creativity Electric flesh-arrows … traversing the body. A rainbow of color strikes the eyelids. A foam of music falls over the ears. It is the gong of the orgasm. ~ Anais Nin Creativity is like sex. You fumble your way through, you get lost in it, you fall in love. Both are passionate, rhythmic, pleasurable, and flowing.
I know, I know. The people I speak of are writers. Below, I’ve exposed some of their secret tips, methods, and techniques. Now, lie back, relax and take pleasure in these 201 provocative ways to arouse your creativity. Great hacks from Merlin Mann of 43 Folders. 20 Common Grammar Mistakes That (Almost) Everyone Gets Wrong | LitReactor - StumbleUpon. I’ve edited a monthly magazine for more than six years, and it’s a job that’s come with more frustration than reward. If there’s one thing I am grateful for — and it sure isn’t the pay — it’s that my work has allowed endless time to hone my craft to Louis Skolnick levels of grammar geekery.
As someone who slings red ink for a living, let me tell you: grammar is an ultra-micro component in the larger picture; it lies somewhere in the final steps of the editing trail; and as such it’s an overrated quasi-irrelevancy in the creative process, perpetuated into importance primarily by bitter nerds who accumulate tweed jackets and crippling inferiority complexes. But experience has also taught me that readers, for better or worse, will approach your work with a jaundiced eye and an itch to judge. While your grammar shouldn’t be a reflection of your creative powers or writing abilities, let’s face it — it usually is. Who and Whom This one opens a big can of worms.
Which and That Lay and Lie Moot Nor. 25 Things I Want To Say To So-Called "Aspiring" Writers - StumbleUpon. Seen a lot of folks giving advice to so-called “aspiring” writers these days, so, I figured what the hell? Might as well throw my dubious nuggets of wisdom into the stew. See if any of this tastes right to you. 1. No More Aspiring, Dingbats Here are the two states in which you may exist: person who writes, or person who does not. 2. You can aspire to be a lot of other things within the writing realm, and that’s okay. 3. Nobody respects writers, yet everybody wants to be one (probably because everybody wants to be one). 4.
There exists no one way toward becoming a professional writer. 5. Point is, fuck the One True Way. 6. You will always have days when you feel like an amateur. 7. You learn early on how to write. 8. I’m just going to type this out a dozen times so it’s clear: finish your shit. 9. …in order to know when they must be broken. 10. . … in order to know why they matter. 11. Writing is a technical skill. 12. Why are the days of our youth known as “salad days?” 13. 14. 15. 16. 17.