Rewriting or Revising | ESC Online Writing Center | SUNY Empire State College The writing process is never done--it is only finished when you need to hand something in or voluntarily discontinue working. If you were to pick up a piece of writing that you completed two years ago, you undoubtedly would see ways that you could improve it. Two years later, you could do the same thing. What exactly is revision? It is easier here to start with what revision is not. So, you are asking yourself, what is revision? The first thing that you need to do is to make sure that you distance yourself from your work. Revision is a very difficult concept to teach to people. How do writers revise? Revision, as I already stated, is a complex process which must take place at a number of different levels. Ok, now that I know what to do, how do I do it? Now that you have an indication of what you can do to revise something, you need to think about where to look at your paper. Your paper revision should move in much the same way, although the steps are somewhat shorter.
Short Story Ideas and Creative Writing Prompts Here are lots of short story ideas that you can use as writing prompts. Use these story starters on their own or to get ideas for the CWN online writing courses. You'll also find links to more creative writing prompts at the bottom of the page. Any of these ideas can be used either humorously or dramatically... or you can try both. Have fun! Do you like this page? Story ideas - three elements Choose a set of three elements and write a story that contains all three of them! Extreme challenge: combine three of the elements with one of the other short story ideas on this page. A stolen ring, fear of spiders, and a sinister stranger. More short story ideas Challenge: 4 stories in 4 weeks using these short story ideas. Extreme challenge: Why not write a book of short stories? A babysitter is snooping around her employer's house and finds a disturbing photograph... Even more short story ideas Your character starts receiving flowers and anonymous gifts. And still more short story ideas
How to Write with Substance and Improve Your Communication 10 tips for editing video in a thoughtful, compelling way By Kari Mulholland One of TED’s video editors, Kari Mulholland, hard at work. Below, her editing advice. The techniques that video editors use to shape their content reveal a lot about how people create meaning in the world. The TED Talk editing toolkit is small when compared to ones used to cut a narrative feature or documentary. Now, compare that to the same excerpt edited competently. What made the first excerpt so uncomfortable to watch was that the edits were unmotivated; every edit was random. Choose the best camera angles for each moment. Now the “um” is edited out, by cutting between two shots during an action-filled moment. Think about who’s speaking and who’s listening. Now let’s watch the same excerpt edited like a TED Talk. The edits are motivated by the words spoken by both Chris and Bill. All of a sudden, the point of view of the interview shifts. Take some space from your edit. Hope that these tips have been helpful. Kari Mulholland is a Film + Video Editor at TED.
How to Start A Blog – Here is a free advice for you! Is this a hobby blog ?Is this going to be a blog that you want to run like a business ?Is your blog going to be a blog that supplements your current income ?Is this a nonprofit blog ?What do you want people to learn while reading your blog ? There are so many questions to ask with respect to readiness, goals and purpose of your blog that you should sit down and think about before embarking on this journey. Some may argue that you want to get your blog name and hosting taken care of first, but I would swiftly disagree. Your blog is your voice and it's "your" opportunity to say what you want to say about what you know about the topic that you've chosen to make the central point of your website.
5 Ways to Get Rid of Your Damn Empty Modifiers I discussed the need to get rid of empty emphatics when I gave you 8 words to seek and destroy in your writing, but just saying that you should get rid of a thing doesn't say much about the right way to do so. Today I'm going to show you a few of my favorite ways to get rid of your empty modifiers. What exactly is an empty modifier? It's any word whose only role is to intensify the word it's modifying. I'm not saying that empty modifiers should never be used. 1. Sylvia was very crazy. This is the easiest and often the best solution. (Though, these days, you may need to use something a bit more extreme to earn the cut; I offer "mother-fucking" for your consideration.) 2. Bob was really ugly hideous. When I started dating my second serious girlfriend, we quickly fell in like. Both of us were using the repeated "really" as a way to avoid saying the more powerful—and culturally loaded—word that captured our mutual infatuation. There are more powerful versions of most words out there. 3. 4. 5.
The Top 10 Elements of Setting In a Story No matter if you are just getting started or want to break into fiction writing, setting is a crucial element to any story. In order to create an imaginary world for your story, you’ll need to know the fundamental elements of setting first. Discover the basic elements of setting in a story from Between the Lines. Fiction has three main elements: plotting, character, and place or setting. While writers spend countless hours plotting and creating characters and then imagining their character’s arcs and dilemmas, often too little attention is paid to place. But setting is more than a mere backdrop for action; it is an interactive aspect of your fictional world that saturates the story with mood, meaning, and thematic connotations. Here is a list of the specific elements that setting encompasses: Locale. Plus, read more daily writing tips. This excerpt comes from Between the Lines by Jessica Morrell, from which you can learn more about the craft of writing. Buy Between the Lines now!
How To Improve Your Writing: 5 Secrets From Hollywood Thanks to the internet, people are reading and writing more than ever. But is it me, or does it seem like the quality of that writing has gotten worse? However, this can be a good thing. These days, solid writing really stands out. It can be a competitive advantage in anything you do. Want to know how to improve your writing? Me, too. Andrew Kevin Walker wrote the blockbuster Seven, starring Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman. Andy was also a writer on many other big projects including Sleepy Hollow, The Hire, and Fight Club (you might notice in the credits that the three cops who attack Edward Norton are named “Andrew”, “Kevin” and “Walker.”) His new book is Old Man Johnson. Below you’ll learn: The thing that immediately tells readers you’re a good writer.How to surprise your audience.The mindset you need to write like a pro.The secret to effective collaboration.How to make readers feel something when they read your work. And much, much more. 1) How To Improve Your Writing Sound crazy? Sum Up Tags:
Ten rules for writing fiction Elmore Leonard: Using adverbs is a mortal sin 1 Never open a book with weather. If it's only to create atmosphere, and not a character's reaction to the weather, you don't want to go on too long. The reader is apt to leaf ahead looking for people. 2 Avoid prologues: they can be annoying, especially a prologue following an introduction that comes after a foreword. 3 Never use a verb other than "said" to carry dialogue. 4 Never use an adverb to modify the verb "said" ... he admonished gravely. 5 Keep your exclamation points under control. 6 Never use the words "suddenly" or "all hell broke loose". 7 Use regional dialect, patois, sparingly. 8 Avoid detailed descriptions of characters, which Steinbeck covered. 9 Don't go into great detail describing places and things, unless you're Margaret Atwood and can paint scenes with language. 10 Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip. My most important rule is one that sums up the 10: if it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.
8 Words to Seek and Destroy in Your Writing Creating powerful prose requires killing off the words, phrases, and sentences that gum up your text. While a critical eye and good judgment are key in this process, some terms almost always get in the way. Here are eight words or phrases that should be hunted down in your story and deleted with extreme prejudice. "Suddenly" "Sudden" means quickly and without warning, but using the word "suddenly" both slows down the action and warns your reader. I pay attention to every motion, every movement, my eyes locked on them. When using "suddenly," you communicate through the narrator that the action seemed sudden. Feel free to employ "suddenly" in situations where the suddenness is not apparent in the action itself. "Then" "Then" points vaguely to the existing timeline and says, "It was after that last thing I talked about." I woke up. "Then" should be used as a clarifying agent, to communicate that two seemingly concurrent actions are happening in sequence. "In order to" "Very" and "Really" "Is"
101 of the Best Fiction Writing Tips, Part I What if someone went through the biggest and best blogs on the internet, and pulled out the very best-of-the best tips for fiction writers? That’s what I’ve attempted to do here. I can’t guarantee there aren’t some amazingly helpful writing tips that I haven’t included, but this is a good start. I’ve also tried to steer clear of really obvious tips like “show, don’t tell” or “make your characters unforgettable,” in favour of ones that are less often discussed. To learn more about the tips, click through to their original articles. Thanks to all these amazing bloggers for their valuable advice! Now, head over to: