Tips on writing

[BillyTheAdult]

I have always written little notes and snippets to myself and recently I have thought about trying to expand a couple into full blown articles just to see how it goes. Writing however has always been my big weak point academically. I was hoping to get some basic writing tips, specific to like blog post or article writing, more than say creative writing, from those of you who are experienced at it.

Thanks

[VinceG]

If you're up to reading a book, there's only a few books worth reading about writing, and one of them is On Writing Well by William Zinsser.

That said, good writing is all about re-writing. Good writers spends at least twice as much time re-writing as writing. Great writers spends more. When you re-write, you re-examine all your sentences and figure out which of them flow well, which of them say what they're intended to say, and which ones have redundant phrasings or words or even paragraphs.

The reason is, first drafts are usually stream-of-consciousness. That stream needs to be examined carefully because other people don't think the same way we do. The way to discover this is through extensive re-writing. The more you do, the more obsessive you'll get over it, and the better of a writer you'll become. With practice, with years of practice, one can get to the point where first drafts don't require an awful lot of time rewriting.

[Criseyde]

Read it back to yourself, aloud.

Read a lot. Read all the writers you admire multiple times. Memorize the phrases that move you.

[The Cloud]

Elements of Style.

It's pretty basic and not too long. Read it and follow it.

[Agota]

I have written an in-depth article on writing blog posts, you can read it here

Also, don't worry about having hard time with academic writing if you want to write blog posts, since this is a completely different medium that requires different style which most people find to be a good thing

[Agota]

Also, assuming you want to write blog articles, I suggest you to read high quality articles in popular blogs. Steve is an excellent example, I also like Ramit Sethi, etc. Just don't get stuck with reading 500 words articles that rehash same old stuff, because you won't learn much from them.

[beautyscientist]

There is some great advice here. My tips would be write a lot and keep sentences short.

[spacecadetglow]

Read up on parallel structure and sentence variety. Try to avoid nominalizations. Limit use of indefinite pronouns (this/that/it) and use nouns instead. Clarity is huge, too. Spell everything out for your readers; explain more than you think you have to.

What types of articles are you interested in writing?

[BillyTheAdult]

I guess just stuff on living. Ideas that have kept a hold of my attention for periods of time. I will write them down, anywhere from a sentence to a page. i was just thinking that I could expand them into article length and see what kind of response I get. I'd like to think I have a somewhat different perspective than the sort of hive mind accepted PD that is so prevalent, but I'm not always great at writing it out. That is I have a firm grasp on what I think, but not how to clearly express it.

[spacecadetglow]

Metaphors are really great for getting your point across. Using a metaphor is like... hehe...

Getting your thoughts on the page is the problem all of us face with writing, I think. I do a ton of revision. Sometimes that's what it takes, especially if you haven't written for awhile and you're rusty. But once you get into the groove, things start to flow and you can churn out quality stuff the first or second time around.

Maybe look at writers you really like and copy them, or study what it is that makes them good, and try to emulate that. I firmly believe that if you can communicate in writing period, which you clearly can, you can develop the skills necessary to become a good writer. I teach freshman writing all day long and I'm still saying that, so have some faith in yourself.

[Criseyde]

Writing is rewriting.

And I agree with spaceAmy (YAY! She's back!), I think anyone can become an effective writer. Perhaps we won't all be masters of the craft, but you don't have to be Sylvia Plath to write a good article.

Feel free to send me anything, by the way -- I like editing.

[BillyTheAdult]

It's funny how you forget where ideas come from.

I was just jotting down a thought I had and it all came back to me in flash. The thing that got me started thinking about writing is I am running out of space in my notebook and I noticed I tend to have the same realizations over and over for a space of time, so I was going to combine similar ideas into longer thoughts and organize them into something coherent in a new notebook. That got me thinking about expanding the ideas into more detail, I started thinking about sharing those ideas with others to save them the struggle. This is like all one slowly unfolding train of thought over the course of months. It got to be so background that I never even consciously thought about it's origination anymore.

I guess that's kind of how beliefs get made too.

[BillyTheAdult]

Originally Posted by Criseyde

And I agree with spaceAmy (YAY! She's back!)

...does she have any thoughts on menstrual cups?

[ZephyrusX]

How about tips on style? I do think I am a good writer*, but although my ideas are structured very logically and are accessible, I'll look at what I wrote and think, '♥♥♥♥! That sounds so academic (aka boring!)'. Would you say style is important? May be this is an non-issue... Or may be it depends upon the type of work you actually want to do.

Nice seeing you again, spacey

* I can't really add anything new to what has already been said. I spend the majority of my time planning the structure of my ideas, 'researching' and editing. I spend very little time actually writing my ideas down. It helps to read aloud while editing a day or two after you have written your first draft. It also helps to get someone else to read your work. Sometimes we think something is easily understandable only to be told by someone else, 'What the heck are you talking about? '

[spacecadetglow]

Originally Posted by BillyTheAdult

...does she have any thoughts on menstrual cups?

Oh good lord jeebus. I don't use menstrual cups. That is all I have to say on the topic.

....the menstrual cup that broke the camel's back? Teehee.

[cacheborn]

Originally Posted by Criseyde

Writing is rewriting.

That is so true. Reminds me of Papa Hemingway who said, "First draft of anything is ♥♥♥♥."

[cacheborn]

I think most good fiction writers are good (read voracious) readers. Where else can you get such wide variety of experiences? You begin to unconsciously imitate the your favorite writers, which is perfectly fine, and then you develop an amalgam of your own style. Good artists imitate, great artists steal. Almost everyone right from Shakespeare got his/her ideas from somewhere else and developed on it.

Read!!

[Mounds]

Here's what I've found:

Read voraciously. Mechanics and vocabulary will become second nature.

When you are going to write, don't read anything else before hand. If I were to read Steve's blog and write immediately after, his voice would influence my own. Bad!

Do an emotional outpour. Just write about your topic until you don't have anything else to say.

Edit at a later time. I've had a lot of my articles die on the vine because I kept stopping to edit them. Also, it leeches your voice out of the words.

My number one tip: have fun. If you don't enjoy writing it, no one is going to enjoy reading it.

-Tim

[Asten]

I don't write articles much myself yet, but I do write in general (both creative and technical), and I read constantly--particularly in the PD field and particularly online.

So, I can tell you what will make me bookmark someone's site/blog and return numerous times, versus passing over and forgetting about it, if that might be helpful to you.

From the perspective of a reader:

Voice. I want to hear you. I want to know you. I want in your head, so you can get into mine. I want to feel like I'm tapping into your soul as I read, because you're being that authentic with your writing. I want to feel like you're talking to me as a close, personal, intimate friend. The best PD-centered blogs have me caring about the person and craving their specific voice and perspective. When I have an issue, I might think, "I wonder what so-and-so would say about this?", because I care about your perspective on life and find it interesting. Agota up there is one of those people, as is Steve.

Give me benefits. (Sounds so greedy! ) Just moments ago, I was talking to someone about how I don't like it when an article won't get to the point. I feel like I'm reading line after line of trivial stuff that sounds nice, but doesn't actually mean anything. Those generic "How-To" or "42 Ways to Whatever" are often like that, and while they serve a purpose, they're also easy to forget. Make every line count! Make it have value! Give a benefit to your reader, whatever that benefit is! I can't recall a time when I felt that with Steve's blog, because I feel like nearly everything he says adds value by itself or to the total message of the post.

Use personal stories. This is part of voice, but it's worth noting by itself. You're human, and so am I, and I like to be reminded of that. I like to remember you have flaws, and I like to know you did/do struggle. I like to know how you got past your struggles, and how things have changed for you. I also like to know what you've experienced, because it influences your perspective; and, if you've done things right, I care about your perspective.

Grammar, structure, and organization. Obvious, but noteworthy. I'm not a grammar expert, but I'm easily distracted by mistakes. And there's nothing worse than sitting there thinking, "This would sound better if he did <xyz>." It takes away from the focus of your content, and you don't want that. Again, I rarely notice problems with Steve's stuff. 99.9% of the time, I'm engrossed with his content, not his grammar or organization. I think reading about it helps, reading others work helps (like has been said, it becomes pretty intuitive), and having more knowledgeable people correct you helps.

I don't know if that helps, but there you go!

I think the best thing to do to improve is get feedback--honest, constructive feedback. Find someone who will tell you if your article falls flat and has no personality, or if you drone on and don't get to the point, or if you get off topic. It can also help you find your strengths, so you can play to those.

Also, definitely edit at a later time if you can help it. That goes for all writing--get the ideas down, or you'll never get it done.

♥♥♥♥♥♥ first drafts are finished first drafts.