Better writing habits;
- This topic has 28 replies, 17 voices, and was last updated Sep 9, 2008 at 12:13 am by
.
-
Posts
-
Anyone have input for things to do to improve your writing? Thinking, a ten things to work on type of list.
Write correct English in all emails, board posts, etc. Check your own grammar and learn from what your word processor tells you. Punctuation, etc., can be taught, and it’s a surprising deficiency for most of the writers whose work comes across my desk, whether so I can edit it or just in the process of putting together a magazine.
Magazines like active voice, but more importantly, they have stylistic needs. Most fly fishing magazines do two types of writing: reportorial and authorial. If you are reporting on something, you should not inject yourself into it unless you need to add a brief anecdote. That’s the style of writing you’ll usually see me doing in magazines. If you are writing a first-person narrative, for instance of a trip, you need to switch gears and add somewhat more voice (turns of phrase, creative hooks, etc.), but not enough to flatten out the material. You are not spinning yarns; you are telling a story. There’s a difference.
The best way to learn to write well is to read actively. Analyze what is on the page, don’t just passively absorb it. It’s the difference between what your brain is doing when you’re playing Scrabble with friends and what it is doing when you’re vegged out watching TV. Finally, and I don’t say this lightly, but a little bit of alcohol can grease the creative wheels. If you are stuck, drink one beer. Don’t get drunk, but try to relax and let your mind wander a little. This is best used in the authorial area rather than in the reportorial.
Zach
If you are stuck, drink one beer.
ZachNow thats what I’m thinking….
If I leave that sentence all alone will anyone take it out of context? 🙂 😉I write in my fishing diary regularly and try to get some of my observations down straight away. Looking back, its not only a wealth of information but helps me collect my thoughts when writing a piece I wish to submit.
I typically drink one different beer or a glass of wine a night (the local farmer’s market/wine store offers beer by the bottle, 6 for $7, out of a wide selection).
Study technique. There are a lot of good books on writing. Read some. Compile a list of things you didn’t know and study them, over and over again.
Revise. Revise. Revise.
If you’re writing for publication have someone read your writing and give you feedback.
Randy
Randy that’s a good add to this thread;
What books do you recommend?
Z suggested a couple good ones to me a few months back;
1. The Elements of Style by Strunk and White
2. Stephen King on WritingI’ve read them both twice. The first one is very hard for me. I don’t find any of it sinking in. It’s packed full of fantastic information. The kicker is, I feel like I should have grasped the content in 6th grade, but I’m too thick to hold onto any of it. I’ve started my third review.
The second is a really quick read. I never read King before Z suggested this book and now I’m a fan. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to write with half his wit or common sense , but I’m sure as heck going to try.
Aaron
In addition to the books you mentioned, I like the Practical Stylist by Sheridan Baker. ( Don’t know if it’s still in print.) Sheridan makes good writing easy.
Also, I like Style by Joseph Williams. The book, however, is tough reading, but it has things that I’ve haven’t seen in other books.
A few others are The Golden Book on Writing by David Lambuth; Edit Yourself by Bruce Ross-Larsen; Stein on Writing, by Saul Stein.
For Fiction (and Memoirs) my favorite is The Techniques of the Selling Writer by Dwight Swain.
There are, however, many other good books. One thing I want to add. When a good golfer tries to improve his technique his game intially suffers as it takes time to correctly intergrate the new techniques. (This happened to Tiger Woods.) I think writing is the same.
Randy
Lauren,
Partially inspired by this site Kevin’s and others, I recently enquired at the college across the street from my shop about auditing a basic writing class. After I found out it would be over $800 I found a retired high school English teacher that would take me in as a pupil for a mutually attractive
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.