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Business Writing Skills II - A Web Writing Primer
Whatever you would write on paper, cut it in half. The web was designed for quick reading. Studies show that people do not read long blocks of text while surfing the web; reading from the screen is often slower than reading on paper. Therefore, be...
Common Writing Mistakes
Most books aren't rejected because the stories are "bad." They're rejected because they're not "ready to read." In short, minor stuff like typos, grammar, spelling, etc.
I don't mean places where we, as authors, deliberately break the rules....
The idea way to grow your writing business
As a writer (or any business) in order to generate good financial returns for your efforts you will need to place a great deal of emphasis on product creation and the marketing aspects of your business to turn "what might be" into "what will be"...
Top 3 Rules for Writing Effective Copy
One thing all successful Internet marketers have in common is that they're good copywriters. If you want to have a profitable online business, you need to know how to write a copy that motivates people to buy your product... a copy that sells! In...
Voice in Narrative and Dialogue - A Contrast of Writing Styles
One of the nice things about being an author is that we can break any rule we want. (I just did.) It's part of our job description. Language changes through usage -- definitions, spelling, grammar -- and authors can help it do this. But on the...
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WEEDING OUT YOUR WRITING
Weeding Out Your Writing
An accepted fact with any garden is that there will be weeds. Some have a lot and some have a few. However many there are, one thing is for certain. People pull them out, and throw them away. Weeds drain needed moisture and strength from the plants that will produce the harvest we are expecting. But weeds do have a purpose, and a very important one at that. Sometimes its the weeds that give the gardener the incentive to go out to the garden and tend to his plants. The plants, in turn, get the needed attention they deserve and they grow better and produce more. So, weeds are not all that bad!
When we write, we plant the seeds of ideas in articles, stories, and other written material. They begin to grow with embellishment such as descriptive language, conversation, and subplots. Many times we sit back to admire our handiwork and lo and behold! there are weeds. Spell check was having a bad day, or your embellishments describe a glacier instead of a small mountain stream. It’s time to get out there and weed. Maybe the conversations are too long and there are too many unfamiliar phrases that are only understood by those in certain parts of the country. One thing to remember is that your book or article may be read by people all over the world. If you use “local” language, it may take some readers “a bit” to figure it out. As for descriptive phrases, they must be kept in perspective. A wild, ferocious, angry puma is by no means in the same class as that nasty neighborhood cat that claws your screens and climbs your trees. Of course, he/she may appreciate the build-up but your
readers might get the wrong impression. Or, on another note, maybe this cat is a supercat with super powers and therefore the description is right. Only you the writer can make that call!
Weeding is a great pastime. Its a bit of a break from intensive writing, so that you can
absorb, digest, and relax. In reality, it’s reading your written material as a reader, not a writer. The weeds that writers grow can prove to be pretty stubborn hindrances. They pop up whenever and wherever they choose. They could be our favorite or pet words that are used too often, or they could be a private belief that we inadvertently add to everything we write. So, writers have to weed just like gardeners. The only difference is that we sometimes plant the weeds ourselves. Somehow they didn’t seem like weeds when we chose them.
Whatever you write will never be harmed by some careful weeding activity. But be gentle, because sometimes when you pull that weed, your own feelings feel the tug.
Of course, we all put a little bit of ourselves into everything we write, and that’s good. Its when we add just a tad too much that our final product suffers. So, pull those weeds, take care not to disrupt the good plants, and the harvest will amaze you.
Happy weeding!
ENJOY !
©Arleen M. Kaptur 2002 June
About the Author
Arleen Kaptur has written numerous articles, cookbooks, motivational booklets, and the novel: Searching For Austin James
Websites:
http://www.arleenssite.com
http://www.Arleens-RusticLiving.com
http://www.webpawner.com/users/rusticliving
http://topica.com/lists/simpleliving
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| grammar.ccc.commnet.edu |
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| Purdue University's Online Writing Lab - The OWL Family of Sites |
| Writing lab and resources. Email newsletter available. |
| owl.english.purdue.edu |
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| OWL at Purdue University: General Writing Concerns Handouts |
| This page contains important links to the writing: planning/writing/revising aspects of the OWL website. |
| owl.english.purdue.edu |
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| en.wikipedia.org |
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| www.writing.org |
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| www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu |
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| National Novel Writing Month - National Novel Writing Month |
| NaNoWriMo is an annual (November) novel writing project that brings together professional and amateur writers from all over the world. |
| www.nanowrimo.org |
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| Poynter Online |
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| www.poynter.org |
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| Pages tagged with "writing" on del.icio.us |
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| del.icio.us |
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| BBC Get Writing |
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| www.bbc.co.uk |
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| TOC About Writing |
| Menu of articles on writing written by professional SF/F writers. |
| www.sfwa.org |
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| 11 Rules of Writing -- a concise guide to important grammar ... |
| A concise guide to some of the most frequently violated rules of writing, punctuation, and grammar. |
| www.junketstudies.com |
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| NAEP Writing Subject Area |
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| nces.ed.gov |
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| www.technorati.com |
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| IPL Teenspace: A+ Research & Writing |
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| www.ipl.org |
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| Dictionary.com: Writing Resources |
| Free online English dictionary and reference guide. List of sites writers can use. |
| dictionary.reference.com |
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| WritingFix: Home of Interactive Writing Prompts and 6 Trait ... |
| Daily and interactive writing prompts. |
| www.writingfix.com |
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| Advice on Academic Writing |
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| www.utoronto.ca |
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