Nathan Bransford: Writer Wednesday: Do You Suffer From One of These Writing Viruses? Do You Suffer From One of These Writing Maladies? There are pernicious writerly germs out there infecting pages all around the world. Left uncured they can be fatal. Yoda Effect: Difficult to read, sentences are, when reversing sentences an author is. Overstuffed Sentences: An overstuffed sentence happens when a writer tries to pack too many things into one sentence in convoluted fashion, making it difficult for the intent of the sentence to come through and to follow it becomes an exercise in re-reading the sentence while making the sentence clearer in our brains so we can understand the overstuffed sentence, which is the point of reading. Chatty Cathy: So, like, I don't know if you've noticed but OMG teenagers use so much freaking slang!!! Shorter Hemingway: Clipped sentences. Non Sequiturs: Sometimes when authors are in a paragraph one thing won't flow to the next. Description Overload: Upon this page there is a period.
Janet Fitch's 10 rules for writers Janet Fitch is the author of "White Oleander" and "Paint it Black," and she teaches writing at USC. It seems like every time I run into her at a reading, she introduces one or two or more of her students who she has encouraged to come along, people whose work she praises. This enthusiastic engagement makes her, well, nicer than many writing teachers, and that niceness might be why she's posted a list of 10 writing tips that can help almost anyone on her blog. But the list shows that just because she's nice, she's no pushover in the classroom. The list -- intended for fiction writers but good for many of us -- is reprinted in its entirety below, with Fitch's permission. 1. Almost a decade ago, Elmore Leonard published his 10 Rules of Writing in the New York Times (he later expanded it to a book). -- Carolyn Kelloggtwitter.com/paperhaus Photo: Janet Fitch in 2006. Clicking on Green Links will take you to a third-party e-commerce site.
Top 10 ways to write an Anticlimax An anticlimax is personally one of my most feared nightmares – it means you have to revise a major part of the novel, or at least put the climax on hold until you can figure out a way to make it bigger, better, more twisted and more shocking than anything you’ve thrown at the reader so far. Here’s my top 10 list of successfully writing an Anticlimax – found mostly through trial and error. 1. Never plan ahead. While writing your novel take care to never plan more than 2 chapters ahead – that way you get to make sure incongruous details pop up at the last minute, and ensure that your pacing is like that of jerky Chevy. 2. 3. 4. Detective walks up to killer. 5. 6. 7. 8. Cue for happy ending. 9. 10. One last note on writing an anticlimax: it has all got to do with pacing. Let the writer take up surgery or bricklaying if he is interested in technique. Write long, write badly, make mistakes.
Tips on Writing a Memoir - LoveToKnow Freelance Writing If you think you have an interesting life story to tell, LoveToKnow Freelance Writing is here to offer tips on writing a memoir. Even if you're a novice writer, our advice will help you get your project off to a promising start. Memoir vs. Autobiography Before you begin writing a memoir, it's helpful to make sure you understand how this type of book differs from an autobiography. Typically, a memoir reads more like a novel than an autobiography. Generally speaking, memoirs tend to be much more popular than autobiographies. Brief Tips on Writing a Memoir As you're working on your project, it may be helpful to keep in mind the following tips on writing a memoir: Write first, edit later. For more advice on how to write a memoir, check out Inventing the Truth: The Art and Craft of Memoir. Example of Memoir Writing If you're interested in writing your life history, it can be helpful to familiarize yourself with examples of memoir writing. Post a comment
How To Publish a Book & Writing tips & Five steps to follow in writing a novel & How To Publish a Book Writing a book is no easy task, it is a complex process which involves planning, discipline, and time. Writing your first book can get tricky because it is not always obvious where you should start from. Here are five steps you can follow when writing your book. 1. It’s tricky to decide exactly what you want to write about. 2. Let’s say you’ve decided to write a fantasy book. 3. Again, this isn’t easy, and most writers are unsure of exactly how the plotline will unfold until they have written the first five chapters of their novel. 4. So now that you have an idea of your fantasy world and the plot, it’s time for the hardest part: sitting down and actually writing the book. 5. The final step is proofreading and editing your book over and over again. (This is a post by our new intern Ivelina Dineva) (Image by Meul (Own work) [GFDL, CC-BY-SA-3.0 or FAL], via Wikimedia Commons)
(More) tips for writing well (Austin Govella at Thinking and Making) Published Wed, Jul 8, 2009 by Austin Govella. Updated Wed, Jul 8, 2009. As an editor, I’ve noticed several recurring bad habits you heathens would do well to disabuse yourselves of immediately. Almost without exception, these bad habits instantiate themselves as a series of stock phrases and constructions that reflect a lack of focus, a lack of fully developed argument, or the kind of intellectual laziness that sets in as you slog through your first draft. These things happen, That’s ok. 16 things to check when you edit Be vicious when you edit. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. After you edit… The finished piece should be so tight, terse, concise, and clear that it’s boring. Boring. Then sand off the rough edges. Write like you talk. The first 16 recommendations remove fluff and force you to think and communicate.
5 editor’s secrets to help you write like a pro I do a lot of copyediting, both of books and advertising collateral. I’ll let you in on a secret that still surprises me, although I’ve seen it hundreds of times now. If you looked at the raw work of most professional writers, you’d be pretty underwhelmed. Professional writers get work because they hit their deadlines, they stay on message, and they don’t throw too many tantrums. Professional writers rely on editors to fix their clunks. Editing, like writing, takes time to learn. 1. Have you ever heard a four-year-old run out of breath before she can finish her thought? Sentences are building blocks, not bungee cords; they’re not meant to be stretched to the limit. 2. A paragraph supports a single idea. 3. Nouns ending in -ing are fine. (If for some insane reason you want to get all geeky about this, you can read the Wikipedia article on gerunds and present participles. 4. I know we all heard this in high school, but we weren’t listening. 5. Bonus: Use spell-check
The 18 Most Popular Articles on Writing of 2011 We posted more than 1,300 articles to WritersDigest.com this year and, quite frankly, that’s a lot. It’s hard to sift through all of that, so I’ve gathered the 18 most popular articles to share with you—a mix of fiction, nonfiction, writer’s rights, agenting, publishing and a bit of humor. Bookmark these links and reference them as much as you need. There’s something for everyone here, so read on. Your manuscript and writing career will thank you. Without further ado, the 18 Most Popular Article on Writing of 2011: There’s no doubt that our staff worked tirelessly in 2011 to bring you advice, tips, interviews and inspiration to help you reach your writing goals. I hope 2011 treated you well, but I’m confident 2012 is going to be even better. From the bottom of my heart, Brian
How to write fiction - practical advice - write advice online guide writing website write site fiction writing site creative notes by Hugh Cook {*style:<b> Practical stuff - notes about the nuts and bolts of writing fiction. So you want to write fiction? Okay .... </b>*} {*style:<b> 2. Log time worked, eg "Started work today at 1pm, finished at 1.05pm, cumulative time worked today 15 minutes, cumulative time worked this week one hour." The point here is that you must have an objective measure of progress, otherwise you're just going to be kidding yourself. (a) time (b) words written (c) stories submitted Right now, the measure I am using is time. 3. Question: What is a charabanc? Answer: I have no idea. Note: you don't have to build semantic fields, but if nothing else is working then it may help. 4. {*style:<b> 5. 6. A mystery, a problem, a desire, a dead body with a knife sticking out of the back - these are all forms of narrative promise. {*style:<b> 7. forces working to opposite purposes - the outgoing tide running against the wind. {*style:<b> 8. 9. {*style:<b> 10. goals, of desired outcomes; </b>*} 11. equilibrium. likely to do.