writing tips

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Why Do You Write?

Posted by george on October 1, 2009
Posted in: Writing. Tagged: , , . 33 comments
From: http://www.ehow.com/video_4990707_write-freelance-writers-invoice.html

From: http://www.ehow.com/video_4990707_write-freelance-writers-invoice.html

It really is a most basic question.  Since it is the foundation for what you do, when was the last time you thoughtfully considered the question?  If you are unclear about why it is that you are traveling down this road then maybe it is time to stop and smell the roses.

You write because…

  • You have this ember that glows deep within.  It’s hard to put your finger on it.  It may be difficult for you to even put it into words.  It’s a sense that writing is what you are supposed to do.
  • At some point in the past someone read something you wrote and told you that you should be a writer.
  • You have a creative side that needs to express itself and you couldn’t draw your way out of a paper bag.
  • It’s a great way to work from home.  Be your own boss!  Have more time with friends and family!  Make $10,000 a month!
  • You enjoy the freelance aspect of writing where you can get involved in a variety of projects.
  • You own a blog and you have to, in order to keep traffic flowing to your monetized niche site.
  • You have a lot to say and you want the world to know it.
  • You journal and it feels good to get your thoughts and feelings down on paper.
  • You want to be a best-selling Novelist.
  • You like having tangible evidence that you exist.
  • You get a little thrill whenever you see your name in print.
  • You want recognition for the things you know.
  • You like to tell stories.
  • You want to have a memoir, something to pass on to future generations.
  • You enjoy the challenge of grammar and word play.
  • It’s a great excuse to buy a computer and set up a web site.
  • You have expert knowledge in a certain area and you are the most qualified to write about it.
  • It makes you feel intellectual.
  • It relaxes you.
  • It gives you a sense of completeness.
  • It awakens your mind to a world of possibilities.
  • It satiates you.
  • It is all you have ever wanted to do.

Whew!  There are a lot of reasons to write, don’t you think?

So, which of these apply to you?  Are there other reasons out there?  Also, if you couldn’t write, what would you be doing?

Nine and a Half Ways to Send Your Writing Into the Stratosphere

Posted by george on September 30, 2009
Posted in: Writing. Tagged: , , . 17 comments

shuttle

You want to be the very best writer you can be.  It’s hard work, we all know that.  It is important to know that it is not impossible work though.  If your writing has just been trundling along, flat and uninspired, here are some tips to help take it to new levels.

Nine and a half ways

  1. Write every day.  It does not matter what you write, just do it.  If it something you feel impassioned about then all the better.  Like any other thing that is worthwhile, practice will make it better
  2. Learn your grammar and spelling.  Get a copy of The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition
    Google “grammar tips” and see what sites are out there (there are plenty of them).  Use the spell check function.
  3. Proof your work.  Read it out loud for voice and style.  Read it backwards to check for errors.  Have a trusted friend proof it for you.
  4. Take a class.  Think about how much fun it could be to have assignments given to you rather than you having to think of topics all of the time.  Classrooms are also great places to meet like minded folk.
  5. Find a mentor.  One on one mentoring can be a great way to identify strengths and weaknesses in your writing.  An objective mentor can also provide the motivation to keep moving forward.  I recommend Milli Thornton.
  6. Start or find a writing group.  This one takes a lot more work but in the end it could all be worth it.   Writing groups can be empowering and motivating.
  7. Do a bite-sized project.  Consider something that you are very passionate about and write a small E-book.  Don’t kill yourself doing it, make it manageable.  Your goal is to have something completed.
  8. Read.  A lot.  Writers read, and with good reason.  Reading helps you to find your voice.  It also gives you great ideas for what works and what doesn’t.  It’s also highly encouraging – hey, if they wrote a book then I can too!
  9. Join a writing forum.  There are a lot of them out there.  Spend time looking through the discussion groups and see if it is the kind of community you would like to join.  It’s a great way to get advice and connect with other writers.

Half.  Subscribe to the RSS feed here.  Ok, the jury is still out as to whether this will shoot your writing straight up, but I had to come up with something for the “half”!

I hope this tips are helpful to you.  Any thoughts?

Novel writing basics, part two

Posted by george on July 10, 2009
Posted in: Writing. Tagged: , , . 11 comments

s41089cb107780_35_1In the first post of this writing series I covered (albeit lightly) the topics of genre, protagonist, plot and some length guidelines.  I’d like to continue on today with a little discussion about dialogue and foreshadowing.  Both of these techniques are critical to master for any novelist.  Some folks are lucky and their skills are natural in these areas, most of the rest of us need to work on it a bit.

Dialogue

Good dialogue moves a story along.  It provides rich character detail.  It entertains.  It makes us laugh or cry.

Bad dialogue gets you thinking that maybe Bradbury had it right with Fahrenheit 451.

One of the best (and most quoted) pieces of writing advice is to show – not tell.  Dialogue allows us to do this.  Think about this:  Picture someone in your internet community who you follow.  You read their blog and tweet with them on a regular basis.  Do you know them?  Do you have a picture in your mind of who they are, their traits, their qualities?  Did you learn these things by the person telling you or did they show you through their writing and their actions?  Their blog posts and their tweets are their “dialogue” with the world.    Dialogue is your opportunity to let the world learn about your characters.  See how important it is?

Here’s a great big, fat tip:  Minimize your dialogue tags.  In other words, “He shouted angrily” sucks.  Don’t do it.  Use words to demonstrate the feelings.  Said works best.  Remember that.

I just got through slugging my way through a book by Stuart Woods in which almost the entire novel was written using dialogue.  If it wasn’t for the fact that the dialogue rang hollow and was a bit stilted, it would have been a great way to move things forward.

Final tip:  Go find one of your fav books.  Read through it to see how the author handled the dialogue.  Learn what you can from it, emulate it.

Foreshadow

A foreshadow is nothing more than a hint or a tease about something that may happen in the future.  It’s a great technique to build suspense.  Some folks make it more complicated  than it needs to be so don’t get all jacked up about it, okay?

A foreshadow can be in your face, blatant and impossible to miss.  In that case, it creates some suspense that we keep in the back of our mind awating the fruition of events.  We want to see how the author is going to wrap that little thing up.

Other times, the foreshadowing is much more subtle.  In fact, we may not even realize that the technique was used until we reach an “Ahh, that’s why so-and-so said or did such-and-such!” towards the end of the story.

It’s easy to practice foreshadowing.  Take something you’ve written and work a little tease into the beginning of the piece, pointing to a future event.  See how it changes the flavor and flow of the story.

Just like dialogue, some will have the foreshadowing gene and others will have to work the technique a bit.

Final tip:  Pick a novel that you love and know by heart.  Do a quick re-read of the book and highlight any of the passages or sentences that you believe are foreshadowing.  How did the author phrase it?  Where did they place them?  Pay attention to these attributes and you will see patterns emerge that you can use in your own writing.

Oh, and be careful.  If you foreshadow something early on, you had better address it at some point or your readers will hunt  you down and beat you like the dog you are.

Sorry folks.  Too wordy on this post so point of view will be tackled in part three of this series, along with chapter length.

Comment, please.  Is this series too basic?  Is it too “been there done that?”  Anything in particular you’d like to see included?

What Kindergarten taught me about writing today

Posted by george on May 13, 2009
Posted in: Writing. Tagged: , . 27 comments

kindergartenMost of you that follow me on Twitter know that on occasion I sub teach at my local school district.  Today I had the pleasure of subbing at my daughter’s Kindergarten class.  Of course, she’s not there this week – in Hawaii with her mom!

I was waiting for the little ones to arrive and noticed that the teacher had four double-sided round signs hanging from different spots on the ceiling.  As I read each of them it occured to me that these are the philosophies that we should not just consider in our lives, but in our writing as well.

Eight Pillars

  1. Be Trustworthy – and do what you say you will do. For us writers that have relationships with editors and agents and clients, this is especially true.  If you agree to a deadline, stick to it.  If you make some kind of writing promise, keep it.  This also applies to the readers of your fiction.  Craft your stories keeping in mind that your readers are trusting you to deliver a good story.
  2. Show Fairness – in everything you do. When quoting for services, are you giving a fair price for the value received?  Do you take advantage of naivety?  When you write a new blog post, is it a fair representation of the topic?
  3. Be Caring – and think about the needs of others. Our society (here in the US, anyway) promotes a certain self-centeredness.  What’s in it for me?  take the time to consider the others who may be impacted in your writing ventures.  Can you give a little, even when you could get by without doing so?  Do you respond with thoughtfulness to the commentators on your blog?
  4. Show Perseverance – and keep trying even when you want to give up. This mantra should be posted in every writer’s space.  Develop your thick skin, eschew rejection and do what your heart is telling you.
  5. Show Integrity – and do what you know is right. If you keep this basic foundation in place, you will find your life to be rich and fulfilled.  Integrity is in limited supply these days.  All the blog biggies say it’s important to stand out from the crowd.  Wanna stand out?  Make certain you display integrity.
  6. Be a Good Citizen – in home and community. If you have a family that supports you in your writing endeavors, be sure and let them know that you are appreciative.  Don’t take advantage of their good graces by neglecting family time and chores – life is about balance, spend time with your family.  Be a good cotizen in your community by offering to write the newsletter for your neighborhood watch group, or by offering to set up a blog for a local scout troop.  It’s important.
  7. Show Self-Discipline – and keep your emotions, words and actions under control. We all have bad days.  Don’t take it out on the world.  When things are at their worst, it’s most important to keep your cool.  Read my post on The Art of Being Nice to see a little story of how I wrecked a perfectly good relationship online because I let my emotions get the best worst of me.
  8. Show Respect – and value people’s feelings and properties. Being respectful is easy, and pays big dividends.  Respect your editor’s opinions and your agent’s advice.  Respect the craft and give it your all – each and every time.

There you have it.  I’m proud that my 5 year old is being exposed to these tenets of a good life.  I try to keep these things in mind as a matter of course, and I encourage you to do the same.

Grab your reader right away

Posted by george on May 11, 2009
Posted in: Writing. Tagged: , . 14 comments

dark-and-stormy-nightWhen I start reading a book for the first time, I turn past the Table of Contents, read any introduction that might be present, give a cursory glance to any dedication and with a sense of excitement (and a little trepidation) I finally turn to page 1.  Here is the sweet spot.  This is where the magic will start to happen or where my sense of dread will envelop me as I realize I’ll have to slug my way through a chapter or two before either giving up or finishing the book.

Proven through time

Think about the classic books through time.  The timeless ones are that way because of the story to be certain, but the ones we know, the ones we remember have one great thing in common:

A fantastic and memorable first line

“Call me Ishmael”

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”

“It was a dark and stormy night” Trivia!  Name the original author that this beaut is normally attributed to.

Here’s the lesson

I can’t understate just how important the first line of your writing is for your reader.  Other than the title, it is the single most important tool you have to bring the reader into your world.  And that is really the goal, isn’t it?

You cannot be passive here.  Your first line has to cook.   It has to rock. It has to turn the reader upside down and shake all of the change out of their pockets.

This concept is not just for your fiction ventures, either.  Anything that you want people to read needs to reach out and grab.

Interesting note

Today I received the latest feed from one of my favorite places on the web, Blogging Without a Blog.  The post today was about how readers of your blog don’t really read it.  They scan, comment (hopefully) and move on.  I think there is quite a bit of truth to this. (Raises his hand.  “Guilty as charged, your Honor.”)

This makes the first line that much more critical.  If you’ve got ‘em by the throat at the first line, then it will be easier to take them through to the end.

I’ve noticed

I just completed a call for submissions for flash fiction to be published in an e-book over at Smashwords.  there were about a dozen submissions and I think that about 75% of them had pretty good openers.  This tells me that folks do have a grasp of the concept.  I’m happy to see that.

If you’re not already on board, it’s high time you stepped on the opener train.  Put great thought into that first line.