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A TEACHER WHO INFLUENCED MY WRITING
Mine was Mrs. Martha Harrison, my eighth grade English teacher. She made us write, and write, and write. She would put a sentence on the blackboard (I used to be the one to clean it..remember that), like "If A Pencil Sharpener Could Talk" and make...
Blogs Like All Forms Of Writing Are An Art Form That Takes Knowledge And Practice To Do Well
Writing…Blogs…Blogs are on-line journals where people express themselves through writing. Writing…Writing is the process where one puts down words of a language on a format that others can read. This process has not been around very long, to use...
"Copywriting Businesses - How Can I Get Started?"
"Copywriting Businesses - How Can I Get Started?" Do you have the training and skills needed for copywriting? Are you looking for a way to get your foot in the door? Will you have what it takes to succeed with your copywriting businesses? For...
Freelance Writing: A Career From Anywhere
An island in the Mediterranean. A beach in Africa. The east coast of New Zealand. What do all these locations have in common? A recent call for assistance from freelance writers elicited replies from every one of these locations. In each of...
Keyword Article Writing: the Key to Your Success!
Ready to jump on the keyword article bandwagon? Billions of companies are using keyword articles to gain free exposure on the internet. Whether you're a netpreneur marketing a product or a writer seeking freelance work, odds are you can benefit...
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Are Writing Exercises Effective?
It was reported that the great American author Sinclair Lewis was once asked to give a lecture on writing to a group of college students: "Looking out at this gathering," he said to the assembled students, "makes me want to know how many of you really and truly wish to become writers?" Every hand in the room went up. Lewis looked at them for a moment and then folded his notes and put them away. "If that's true," he said, "then the best advice I can give you is to go home and start writing." He then turned and left the room.
If the first secret of writing is to write and if you've set up some sort of writing schedule, the next step is to figure out what to write.
Opening a brand new file and looking at a blank screen often results in a kind of brain-freeze; we feel as idea-less as the empty screen we're staring at. Writing exercises can help us thaw our idea bank. The goal of a writing exercise is to open your mind and allow you to hone your skills and experiment. The joy of such an exercise is it's not 'for real.' That is, there's no thought of pleasing an editor or finding a publisher or meeting a deadline or getting paid. You're just writing, with your internal editor turned off.
Some freelancers find writing exercises so effective and
freeing they actually begin every writing session with a 10 or 15-minute exercise. Others use them more sporadically. But however you do it, writing exercises will help you with your writing. Use writing exercises in your writing schedule, as a natural part of your writing discipline; use the exercises often and watch your writing improve.
Ideally, a writing exercise is short, requiring you to spend no more than 10 or 15 minutes writing, thinking and feeling about something that's unrelated to the rest of your writing work. In a way, they are like mini-meditations and mini-vacations because they clear out the cobwebs and give you a new view.
It's that new view, that different way of seeing, of expressing, that's the key to a good writing exercise. Naturally, not every exercise blows your mind every time. Sometimes you are just not ready for the challenge presented, but even then, the seed is planted. Sometimes you are simply not up for doing a writing exercise, which is okay too. Again, simply reading can set some new thoughts in motion.
About the Author
Lana Hampton makes it easy to improve your writing skills. Visit http://www.yowswriting.com today for the latest writing tips and information.
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