The power of your writing — Writers on Writing. Writing Is Thinking. Writing is intimidating. There’s this expectation of artful precision, mercurial grammatical rules, and the weird angst that comes with writing for other people. You start with a tidy nugget of an idea, but as you try to string it into language, it feels more like you’re pulling out your own intestines. But you’re not a writer, so this isn’t your problem, right? Well, the thing is, writing is not some mystic art. It’s a practical skill—particularly since most of our online communication is text-based to begin with.
Done well, it means you’re contributing signal, instead of noise. No one’s born with this skill, though. But writing sucks. I mean, yeah. Think about the things you had to look up on the internet just to figure out how to do your current job. Choosing the words to describe your work means you’re doing it on purpose. Starting with something messy#section2 Thinking: check. When the words aren’t forthcoming, stick to paraphrasing. In other words, it’s a rough draft. 6 simple ways to write better blog posts. Many Christian writers have a lot of truth to share, but they fail to generate interest because they fail to make their writing compelling.
Their content comes off as true like the phone book, not true like a love letter or an invitation to go on a life-changing adventure. Here’s how to get your message out further. I’ve taken on editorial duties at Resurgence, at least for a season. This means I’m reviewing nearly every blog article before we post it and giving content feedback in an effort to help our writers get their message out even further.
I don’t pretend to be the world’s greatest writer. But I did start writing professionally as a journalist in high school, paid my way through high school and college writing articles and editing my college newspaper, got a bachelor’s degree in Communications from the top-notch Edward R. Getting your message out When reading a blog or article, most people make a decision in the first 1–2 sentences whether they will continue to read or not. 1. 2. The Secret to Writing Incredible Blog Posts — Better Humans.
People always ask me what they should blog about. Should they write about this fancy topic? This complicated process? This trendy thing that they don’t really know much about but everyone is talking about it? No. No. NO! At this point in the conversation I have to stop whoever I am talking to and tell them that they are making a huge mistake. “Well, Matt, what am I supposed to write about then!? I’m going to tell you the secret to writing great blog posts right now. Write about what you know. That’s it. Why do I want you to start writing incredible blog posts? Do you need someone to look over your blog post draft, tell you if your blog post idea is good, or give you more tips?
Need a quote from me for the post you’re working on? To write is to bleed. — Writers on Writing. I view writing as a personal endeavor. Writing in the truest form emerges when I am writing for no one but myself. When I am left alone with my thoughts – that is when everything makes sense and comes together. Ernest Hemingway once said, “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” And there is truth in these words. Bleeding means revealing what others cannot see, what they have never seen, and what you might be afraid to see. Your writing is your own – when it is inside your head.
Here is where you will find peace. How to Write a Personal Story — Writers on Writing. Writing, like life, is personal. Do whatever works for you. But if you need a hand writing a personal story, here are some tips from my experience editing Fray. Writing First, tell the story to someone out loud. Doesn’t matter who. Now it’s time to write. Understand that the writing process is totally different than the editing process. You will be tempted to stop and edit, fuss about, be perfectionistic. When you’re done writing (you’ll know), switch gears to editing. Editing When you’re editing, think about bullet time. The most common edit I make is to lop off the first few sentences (and sometimes paragraphs). One technique is to start in the middle. A well-written story is different than a verbal story. Finally, make sure you end with something that wraps up the narrative.
And never, ever, end with, “but that’s another story.” 100 Best Books for Men. UPDATE 2/10/2015: We figured the best way to decide the 100 best books for men was to imagine ourselves as audience members: What did we want to read? The answer we discovered was simply something we’ll enjoy. Well, now we’ve made some amendments, because our tastes have changed. So check out the list once again — and as always, read with pleasure. Selecting the 100 best books for men requires some audacity — but so does hitting a good tee shot or giving a toast, and we like those things fine. We figured the best way to do an honest job of it was to imagine ourselves as audience members: What do we want to read? So that’s what we did. Ultimately, we realized that each of our individual favorites made up an extremely wide range of suggestions.
Click to read the entire list » Best Fiction Best Nonfiction Best Short Fiction Best Poetry/Theater Best Philosophy/Essay Best Memoir/Biography. Impact — On Publishing. Last week I attended the yearly backyard barbeque organized by my publisher. There were, of course, a lot of writers present and I took place at a large table and drank my glass of wine and talked with known and unknown people.
At some point I got into a conversation with the salesperson. “How many books were sold?” Someone wanted to know and I immediately grinned. “What if I only sold ten books?” The statistics would show only a number of ten sold books and so people would frown their eyebrows and think it must have been a terrible read. The truth is, numbers don’t have real impact. To let you know how much he appreciated the words, the lines, the impact he’s felt, is worth much more than a number.
Some time ago I worried about numbers and sold books and money and everything that had to do with ranking. ‘I don’t know why exactly I felt the urge, but I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciated your words. I was amazed. It has everything to do with impact. Poetry Isn't as Useless as a Lot of Poets Say It Is - Noah Berlatsky. A recent speech at Yale inadvertently sums up what's wrong with the art form these days: Its gatekeepers believe poetry matters because it's poetry, not because of what it says.
Rudyard Kipling and Nicki Minaj, poets. (Wikimedia, AP Images) Poetry is useless. That's the prevailing sentiment in our culture, as far as I can tell. CEOs and lawyers rule the world. Policemen protect property and keep the peace and provide material for television dramas. Athletes and rock stars and movie stars make tons of money and provide material for gossip columns. Oddly, this isn't just the position of outsiders. Standing apart I looked at her and said – We have poetry So we do not die of history. Poetry, then, is contrasted with history and the world; it's outside cause and effect and even reason. Even without Alexander's painful reliance on clichéd phrases like "deeply felt," this is all familiar, of course.
But why? Poetry is always already revolutionary, then. Of course, this is nonsense. Timeless Advice on Writing from Famous Authors. Malcolm Gladwell Is Underrated — I.M.H.O. I know - it’s like proposing The Beatles are underrated. Malcolm Gladwell is the king of non-fiction writing and publishing. His new book is a million-seller lock. His writing is referenced hundreds of times a day in newspapers, magazine articles, talk shows, boardrooms and bars.
He could pay off the national debt of a small Latin American country with the proceeds of his annual speaking tour. But sometimes, popularity can obscure achievement, and such is the case with Gladwell (by the way, The Beatles are underrated, but that’s for another day). Among our tablet-toting, Foreign Policy-reading, Foucault-citing cultural elites, Gladwell’s name is rarely mentioned without a hint of ironising disdain. “Well I suppose that’s just the Malcolm Gladwell version (of a complex idea).” “It’s the kind of glib formula pioneered by Malcolm Gladwell.” “Yeah, Gladwell? When lists of “Most Influential Thinkers” are put together, Gladwell rarely makes the top cut. Sometimes, I Write About Why I Write. This Is That. Note: this post was originally written on Feb 22, 2012. I've recently been readdressing many aspects of my life and my work, and in digging through my writing, found this.
I shared it with a dear friend and was motivated to share it again with you all. I hope it speaks to you and gives you some insight to why I have done and will do what I do. This post is a bit of an experiment. So, I ask that you indulge me and do me a favor: Play this song while you read this post. You certainly don't have to. And lately, why I write has been a question on my mind. Sometimes, I know exactly what I'm doing when I post something deep and introspective and heartfelt. Sometimes, I just want to be crass. Sometimes, I want to explore emotion. Sometimes, I have something in me I just need to share. Sometimes, I want to call bullshit on what I, you and everyone else knows is bullshit. Sometimes, I am scared. Sometimes, I just hurt, and I need to bleed. Sometimes, I want you to laugh. This isn't my curse. Letters of Note. You've got to sell your heart. Late-1938, eager to gain some feedback on her work, aspiring young author and Radcliffe sophomore Frances Turnbull sent a copy of her latest story to celebrated novelist and friend of the family, F.
Scott Fitzgerald. Before long the feedback arrived, in the form of the somewhat harsh but admirably honest reply seen below. (Source: F. Scott Fitzgerald: A Life in Letters; Image: F. Scott Fitzgerald, via.) November 9, 1938Dear Frances:I've read the story carefully and, Frances, I'm afraid the price for doing professional work is a good deal higher than you are prepared to pay at present. If I’m not a writer then I’m nothing. C. S. Lewis on Writing. Considering he wrote The Chronicles of Narnia, one of the most popular collections of children's literature of all time, it's no real surprise that C. S. Lewis received thousands of letters from youngsters during his career.
What's admirable is that he attempted to reply to each and every one of those pieces of fan mail, and not just with a generic, impersonal line or two. The fantastic letter seen below is a perfect example. It was sent by Lewis to a young American fan named Joan Lancaster in June of 1956 — just a few months before the seventh and final book of the series, The Last Battle, was published — and is actually an invaluable, generous response filled with practical writing advice, all of which still rings true. (Source: The wonderful, C. S. The Kilns, Headington Quarry, Oxford 26 June 1956Dear Joan–Thanks for your letter of the 3rd. 5 Reasons Why You Should Consider Blogging.
Some argue that blogging is passé, but nothing could be further from the truth. Available tools enable all of us to express ourselves, share our views and especially knowledge and experience with a much wider audience than ever before. I really believe that everyone should and can blog. Indeed, it’s not surprising to anyone who knows me that that is a reason why Zemanta is part of my life: to make blogging easier for everyone. Last weekend I read Antonio Cangiano’s (IBM) great blog post on why every professional should consider blogging. 1. Blogging is about storytelling, either in words, with pictures, videos or podcasts. 2. 3. 4. 5.
What do you think about these 5 main reasons why everyone should blog?