|
|
|
Advertising Copywriting - The Top Ten Clichés and Why You Should Avoid Them
We've all seen them plenty of times. Frankly, once is too many. Copy clichés are more likely to put off prospective customers than convince them to buy your product or service. If your advertising copywriter comes up with them, find another...
Copywriting Makeover: Search Engine-Friendly Can Also Mean Visitor-Friendly
by Karon Thackston © 2005 http://www.copywritingcourse.com When it comes to search engine optimization, copywriting plays a big role. You want to have excellent copy that appeals to both your visitors and the engines in order to create pages that...
Generating Innovative Ideas for Writing
There is nothing scarier than staring at a blank piece of paper with a deadline quickly approaching. Whether you're writing a column, article, or essay, the following ten techniques will help you find the topic or angle you are looking for. 1.Read ...
The Secret to Good Writing
Skilful business writing involves getting your message across simply and quickly. This often means writing in a style that is easily read and understood by a broad audience. Yet, writing simply is often difficult for most of us. Why? The answer...
Writing For Sex Markets
Many professional freelancers will go their entire career without ever once writing a story about sex. Oh, they may craft a racy scene or two in the course of writing the next Great American Novel, or they might someday write an article about...
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
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
|
|
|
|
|
| Writing.Com: Writers, Writing, Poetry, Creative Writing, Fiction ... |
| An online community dedicated to fostering writing skills. With a free membership anyone may read, write, rate, and review works. |
| www.writing.com |
|
| Welcome to Writing-World.com! |
| Writing articles and resources. Tips about how to become a better writer, get published and find writing markets. From Moira Allen. |
| www.writing-world.com |
|
| Guide to Grammar and Writing |
| The Guide to Grammar and Writing contains scores of digital handouts on grammar and English usage, over 170 computer-graded quizzes, recommendations on ... |
| grammar.ccc.commnet.edu |
|
| Purdue University's Online Writing Lab - The OWL Family of Sites |
| Writing lab and resources. Email newsletter available. |
| owl.english.purdue.edu |
|
| 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 |
|
| Writing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| The original Mesopotamian writing system was initially derived from a system of ... If it is deemed to be a written language, writing in China will predate ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
|
| Writing.org - Advice for Freelance Writers |
| Articles to help you launch a freelance writing career, from a former literary agent and PLAYBOY editor. |
| www.writing.org |
|
| Writing HTML |
| More than just an HTML reference, this is a structured approach for learning how to create web pages, designed by specialists in learning at the Maricopa ... |
| www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu |
|
| 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 |
|
| Poynter Online |
| Apply by Dec. 11 Reporting and Writing the Untold Stories Apply by Dec. 11 ... Reporting & Writing for Multi-Platform Newsrooms. Apply by Jan. 10 ... |
| www.poynter.org |
|
| Pages tagged with "writing" on del.icio.us |
| This short online course provides a practical introduction to writing fiction. During the course you will be expected to write two short pieces for ... |
| del.icio.us |
|
| BBC Get Writing |
| The BBC's online resource for writing drama and comedy for television, radio and film. |
| www.bbc.co.uk |
|
| TOC About Writing |
| Menu of articles on writing written by professional SF/F writers. |
| www.sfwa.org |
|
| 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 |
|
| NAEP Writing Subject Area |
| NAEP assesses student performance in writing periodically in grades 4, 8, and 12 for the nation, and in grades 4 and 8 for the states. |
| nces.ed.gov |
|
| Writing: See what people are saying right now on Technorati |
| See all blog posts tagged with writing on Technorati. |
| www.technorati.com |
|
| IPL Teenspace: A+ Research & Writing |
| Includes step-by-step instructions on researching and writing, how to find information online and offline, as well as links to useful resources. |
| www.ipl.org |
|
| Dictionary.com: Writing Resources |
| Free online English dictionary and reference guide. List of sites writers can use. |
| dictionary.reference.com |
|
| WritingFix: Home of Interactive Writing Prompts and 6 Trait ... |
| Daily and interactive writing prompts. |
| www.writingfix.com |
|
| Advice on Academic Writing |
| Includes articles on critical reading, planning, researching, style and editing, grammar and punctuation. |
| www.utoronto.ca |
|
|