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Basic Writing Tips – Some Controversial, All Correct
As a previous article (“Making Better Word Choices – 4 Examples”) explained, writers can take steps to prevent simple, and common, errors from degrading their writing. Five areas of writing that cause authors problems are discussed in this article....
The Power of Your Ego in Writing Online Copy
I obey one main rule when writing copy for the online world: Get out of my ego and into my reader's ego. It's a basic marketing truth that shouldn't be violated anywhere. Yet it's violated every day online. Let me explain. One day I received the...
Writing Help
Whether you are working for a small business, large corporation, or are a student, there are numerous sources that you can turn to for help with writing. Businesses need to be able to effectively communicate with their customers, their employees and...
Writing, Reading, Speaking, Talking
Finding the Sweet Spot in Dialogue Writing Over the years I have heard complaints from various quarters—friends, students, and family—that even if they could write the story they’ve always wanted to tell, they could never get the dialogue to “sound...
Zany Ideas That Increase Writing Productivity And Quality
Welcome to the zany ideas of a productive writer. My students keep reminding me of my unusual tools and how helpful they have been for them. I also thank my students for their concept testing and refinement. Now, I feel much more confidant about...
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Writing From An Amateur Perspective
So, you want to be a writer? You probably have some background
in writing, perhaps did well in school with the subject, or have
simply always liked the idea of writing for fun and even for
profit. While you have the will to write, you are unsure of
where to go from there and how to get started. Well, if this
describes you, this article is for you. For you see, I was in
the very same boat when I started writing, and I finally found
my way through the jungle of confusion that can present itself
when starting something new. Unless one is extraordinarily
gifted, like so many amateur writers, most will run into the
same pitfalls and challenges that I did when I started. While I
can't tell you what to write, I can give you tips on how to
write, which I suppose is why this is on the screen in the first
place.
Straightaway, we're going to discuss how to become a good
writer. It isn't some mystical secret, but these tips are not
known to everyone, and as basic as they may be, they are the
most valuable and first steps that must be taken to get a good
start.
The first step towards becoming a great writer is to become an
avid reader. The best writers are generally those who are
well-read on a variety of different subject. Reading allows one
to absorb how a book or article is put together, how best to
make words flow, and how to structure the work so that it makes
sense. If one becomes a good, fast, comprehensive and avid
reader, they build the mental foundation required to be a good
writer. What should one read? Where should one start? How often
should an aspiring writer be picking up a good book? Well, one
should read something they enjoy, something they find
interesting. Those who read fun or interesting things usually
have a better chance of being able to write something of the
same quality. Anything that is boring or dry is not required
reading, but reading something substantive from a good author,
columnist, etc gives a good workout. Reading is a skill, not a
talent, and it can be developed through practice for those who
not the best readers. As a general rule, until one is engulfed
in their own writing and has no time to read anything else, one
should always have at least one book they are working on
finishing. Be it something fictional or educational, always
reading something enjoyable will increase reading skills, and
hence writing skills. Eventually, one will be able to pick out
their own mistakes in their writing, and perhaps even the
writing of others through sheer practice. If one is not willing
to read, they have no hope of being able to write well enough to
make it worthwhile.
It is important to learn the basics of storytelling, and one of
the best ways outside of avid reading is to watch movies or tv.
While books generally have more sustance and depth than viewable
media, watching a well-written TV show or movie can help to
develop good storytelling habits and can aid in knowing how to
create a decent storyflow. Watch shows that are fun, exciting,
and entertaining, those that keep the viewer at the edge of
their seats, those that have good timing and good dialogue. All
of these things can rub off on the aspiring writer. In the US,
the average person watches a lot of TV as it is, but how many
watch it with the purpose of analyzing how the story is told?
Watching a good movie with the intent to mentally dissect it can
be enlightening to those looking to become a good storyteller,
and it generally is a quicker study than looking to other books
for the same tips.
The next step on the journey to becoming a writer is to choose
good influences. Just as with artwork, the authors one looks up
to will ultimately shape one's writing style. Pick the authors
of favorite books and read them often. Never steal from them, as
that is a huge no-no, but reading and studying how they write,
how they structure things and make things flow, can help towards
developing a unique style. There are those who just
automatically have their own style and know how they want to
write. But for most, this is not the case, and style is
something that must be developed over time.
One of the biggest and most ominous obstacles to writers both
experienced and not is the curse of writer's block. There are
some days, usually at the beginning of a new chapter or article,
that the author just cannot seem to form a coherent enough
thought to write, and just is drawing a complete blank. One of
the hardest things for aspiring writers to do is to start. What
is the cure for this frustrating problem? Well, it really is
quite simple: just do it. All one needs to do is start writing
something, anything at all. If nothing is coming to mind, just
start anyway, randomly. And from there on, just keep going until
the mental blockage begins to clear. It can be surprising
how
far one can get doing this when only moments ago they were
hopelessly stumped. Chances are, what was written to start out
with will not be good enough to keep. In this case, just go back
and fix it. But in other cases, it could open up whole new ideas
and concepts that just came right out of the blue. For when
experiencing writer's block, the only way to get past it is to
reach beyond the borders of one's mind, to think out of the box
so to speak. In this mental state, there are occasions where
something truly brilliant comes out that would not have occurred
to the mind otherwise. So in those instances, writer's block can
be an author's friend rather than the enemy. But usually, it's
the enemy, so the best way to get through it is to plow through
it.
How often should one write? It is easy to only write when one
feels like it. While it makes it easier and usually escapes the
challenge of not knowing what to write, it does not develop good
writing habits. One should write a little something everyday, no
matter how small. Simply writing down all of the ideas that have
come to mind over the week can help take a load off the brain
and help in future writing sessions. Just a paragraph a day can
be progress enough to keep the mind fresh and to keep momentum
in one's writing. Sometimes, it is easy to sit down with the
intent to write only a little, but then end up writing far more
than planned. So just setting aside at least a half hour a day
for writing is a good practice, lest one gets rusty or the
concepts start to fade from memory.
Now that we have gone through the basic motions of learning how
to write, we can now look into the challenges of knowing what to
write. It is not the purpose of this article to give the reader
ideas of what to write, but how to develop their own.
The most obvious and most clichéd tip is to write what one
knows. If one writes from experience or about something they
feel strongly about and know a lot about, it makes it easier and
makes the work more believable and keeps it from seeming distant
or impersonal. What about those who want to write about
something that simply interests them but something they know
very little about? Well, this unfortunately happens far too
often. The truth of the matter is though, one can write about
something they initially may not know about. But the best idea
is to know enough about it to write about it when the time
comes. This is why it is important to research a subject enough
to write convincingly about it. Just knowing the fundamentals of
subject can make it that much more believable, and make the work
that much better.
No matter what ideas one may have, and no matter how many others
may have used similar ideas in the past, it is important to
write originally. Too many stories these days are carbon copies
of each other, or unholy splices of popular and successful
works. Some of these go far, while others are rejected. It is
hard to think up an original concept, as everything has been
done to death in an least some form. But if an old concept can
be presented in a new or different fashion, it can make the work
interesting to the reader, and fun for the writer. Some of
writing originally is about style, but mostly is it about
structuring a story and its concepts is a way that at least is a
little bit different. Throwing some curveballs at the reader
will ensure that the work is separated from the hoard of
unoriginal and uninspired works inhabiting bookstore shelves
these days.
Perhaps the most important concept though when devising just
what to write is to write for oneself. The author has to write
for themselves and not to exclusively make the reader happy.
When thinking up ideas, the question should not be phrased 'what
would people like to read?' but 'what would I like to read?'
This helps the author to write with some passion and interest,
and it will show in the final work and will cause others to
become as passionate and interested in the work as the author.
Especially when writing books, writers who write with themselves
in mind as the reader generally have the best results.
And that's about it for this introduction to the world of
writing. The two most important things are knowing how to write
and know what to write. Hopefully, this article can help steer
an aspiring author down the right path. Good luck, and keep on
track!
About the author:
Shadowflare is a webmaster of his personal site located at
http://www.thewhisper.net. He is currently writing an epic novel
and has also begun publishing his shortstories online, free of
charge for anyone to read. The doors to his site open on
December 31st, 2005, and his first work, entitled 'Whispers'
will make its debut. Register an account today and be a part of
this new online community!
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| Freelance Writing Article Index. Getting Started · How To, Tips & Samples · Getting the Writing Done · Rewriting & Editing · Your Writing as a Business ... |
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| Presentation + Writing Article for SMS. I have a presentation to prepare for, plus I'm writing an article for the Search Marketing Standard. ... |
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| Writing article overviews HOWTO (English). Writing article introductions HOWTO (English). Effective use of headers HOWTO (English). Related articles ... |
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