I got behind by a couple of days, but here I am back on track! Here’s lesson one in Writing for Dummies and Smarties. A few helpful tips.
I kind of forgot about writing the next blog post. I say kind of because that’s true. I remembered late and then was not motivated enough to write. I opted, instead, to re-watch one of my favorite TV shows that is now off the air. So, like I said – I kind of forgot.
But I got to thinking just a while ago. Not that I’m some famous author, at least not yet, but I’ve learned a few things about writing over the years some of you aspiring authors might find helpful in your own struggles to make your words work.
Consider this lesson one of Writing So Well Your Readers Will Keep Reading. And, no, this isn’t one of those sales pitches where you keep scrolling and reading and scrolling and reading until you finally get to the end where they tell you – “for a limited time you can get this course for ONLY …” Nope.
Let me ask – do you have difficulty making your words and sentences flow? Are your paragraphs clunky and wordy and unwieldy? Does your writing only tell the story? Many writers struggle with these same problems. So, let me help you.
As the old adage goes – practice makes perfect. Well, we all know it won’t make us perfect, but practice will definitely make you a whole lot better. And if, while you’re practicing you know how to arrive safely at your destination, it makes the practice much more effective.
As any editor will inform you – the first draft is going to be crappy. Write it anyway. There’s your starting point. Making the prose flow comes later. Just sit down (or stand if you want) and begin to write. For me, if I’m writing for fun, when I place my fingers on the keyboard, I don’t always know what I’m going to write or where it’s going to end up. I think that makes writing exciting. My brain takes over without my express direction and we go to some pretty magical places.
So just write and don’t worry about sentence structure. Get the bones of the story or the facts of the article, whatever it is you’re writing, down first. You edit only after you’ve labored and pushed out your first draft.
When I edit, I read out loud. Any awkward or wordy sentences will become immediately apparent. I then excise those unnecessary words and rearrange the rest until I’m satisfied with the finished product.
I’ve written many articles for newspapers and conducted plenty of interviews. When I’m ready to write the article, I put my handwritten notes next to my computer, turn on the recording of the interview, and type as my interviewee talks. I type a lot of what they say verbatim, which works great for quoting. I create many short paragraphs as I type – sometimes each sentence gets its own paragraph.
Once the recording is finished, I review my handwritten notes and add more to the typed page.
Now I’m ready to begin actually assembling the article. I read it through as I’ve typed it, then go back and move things around, cleaning up grammar and sentence structure at the same time. This can take several passes before I’m happy. Don’t be afraid to pull out a thesaurus.
Once I’m comfortable with the thought progression of the article, I go back again, reading it more slowly, focusing on several things:
How well does the story flow
Is it a manageable length with no repeating ideas or wordiness
What feelings am I evoking in the reader
If I have enough time, I like to set the writing project aside for a few hours or a day or even two before I revisit it with fresh eyes. You’ll be amazed at what you see the next time around that you completely missed before. Edit, clean up, and rearrange as necessary until either you’re pleased with the result or you have to send it off to the publisher, whichever comes first.
A story moving in a specific direction without extra words slowing it down makes for good reading. A story evoking targeted feelings in the reader makes for memorable reading.
Here’s an example of an article I wrote for the local newspaper about Camp Helen State Park.
This is what I had to keep in mind while writing the article:
Length – maximum words allowed
Interesting facts – history and present
Evoking feelings so my reader will want to visit
In the next lesson, we’ll talk about Evoking Emotion.
