Writing Tips - 8 Good Writing Practices

From Gotham Writers' Workshop Inc. and an article in The Guardian comes advice from the Science Fiction and Fantasy writer Neil Gaiman.

8 Good Writing Practices

1. Write.
2. Put one word after another. Find the right word, put it down.
3. Finish what you're writing. Whatever you have to do to finish it, finish it.
4. Put it aside. Read it pretending you've never read it before. Show it to friends whose opinion you respect and who like the kind of thing that this is.
5. Remember: when people tell you something's wrong or doesn't work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it they are almost always wrong.
6. Fix it. Remember that, sooner or later, before it ever reaches perfection, you will have to let it go and move on and start to write the next thing. Perfection is like chasing the horizon. Keep moving.
7. Laugh at your own jokes.
8. The main rule of writing is that if you do it with enough assurance and confidence, you're allowed to do whatever you like. (That may be a rule for life as well as for writing. Bt it's definitely true for writing.) So write your story as it needs to be written. Write it honestly, and tell it as best as you can. I'm not sure that there are any other rules. Not ones that matter.

Friday Five Minute Exercise - Respect

1. Set your clocks/timers for Five (5) Minutes.

2. Write about Respect. How do you deal with people who do not respect your views? Is your writing a voice for views that will not be heard by people with closed ears and minds? Do you think integrity and respect are related? How does your writing suffer or improve as your looking glass reflects the respect of others?  Get into as much detail as you can for the next five minutes.

3. Ready?

4. Go.

5. Finished? Review and be amazed.

I hope you had fun. Come back next Friday for a new writing prompt.

Was this exercise helpful?

Did you succeed with this writing exercise? Was it helpful? Were you able to find and write about your own respect and views while you write? Were you able to define how integrity and the ability to write with respect are reflective? Does your writing suffer or improve based on respect?

Why or Why Not?

Writing Tips - 5 Bits of Writing Advice

From Gotham Writers' Workshop Inc. and an article in The Guardian comes some great advice about writing from P.D. James.

5 Bits of Writing Advice

1. Increase your word power. Words are the raw material of our craft. The greater your vocabulary the more effective your writing. We who write in English are fortunate to have the richest and most versatile language in the world. Respect it.

2. Read widely and with discrimination. bad writing is contagious.

3. Don't just plan to write - write. It is only by writing, not dreaming about it, that we develop our own style.

4. Write what you need to write, not what is currently popular or what you think will sell.

5. Open your mind to new experiences, particularly to the study of other people. Nothing that happens to a writer - however happy, however tragic - is ever wasted.

Friday Five Minute Exercise - Work

1. Set your clocks/timers for Five (5) Minutes.

2. Write about Work. What attitudes do you have towards work and writing? Is work something you feel you have to do? Do you feel that having the ability to work is a blessing? Do you become anxious over deadlines? Do you create and repeat behavior patterns that create anxiety when you work? Create a writing plan - allow yourself time and empty space to create and work well. Get into as much detail as you can for the next five minutes.

3. Ready?

4. Go.

5. Finished? Review and be amazed.

I hope you had fun. Come back next Friday for a new writing prompt.

Was this exercise helpful?

Did you succeed with this writing exercise? Was it helpful? Were you able to define how work relates to you? Did you understand whether work brings upon anxiety? Were you able to create a writing plan that works for you?

Why or Why Not?

Writing Tips - 10 Rules for Good Writing

From Gotham Writers' Workshop Inc. comes the secret of Elmore Leonard's being both popular and respectable. Here are Leonard's 10 Rules for Good Writing excerpted from the New York Times article, Easy on the Adverbs, Exclamation Points and Especially Hooptedoodle.

1. Never open a book with weather.
2. Avoid prologues.
3. Never use a verb other than "said" to carry dialogue.
4. Never use an adverb to modify the very "said" ... he admonished gravely.
5. Keep your exclamation points under control. You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose.
6. Never use the words "suddenly" or "all hell broke loose".
7. Use regional dialect, patois, sparingly.
8. Avoid detailed descriptions of characters.
9. Don't go into great detail describing places and things.
10. Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.

Elmore Leonard's most import rule is one that sums up the 10: If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.