Ever notice when you read some writers’ work, that you can almost hear them? I don’t just mean that they write conversationally. I mean that, well, you can almost hear the pitch of a voice, a twinkle in an eye.
How do some writers do that? How do they become real in your mind while you read? [Read more…]
A messy desk is like a garage – it’s where you keep your tools. It helps if it’s organized, but your car will run fine even if it is not. But messy writing is a sign of messy thinking. It’s proof that our ideas are not under control. No one wants to be behind the wheel with someone who can’t keep the car on the road.
Organization is the second trait of good writing. Great writing needs a plan, like a road trip needs road. Ideas need to be organized before we set off.
I’m sure you’ve read a blog post, or maybe twenty, that left you wondering where it was going and why it kept stopping and starting. Reading was like riding in a half-dead jalopy. (Jalopy don’t you love that word? It sounds like a food.)
Reading should be like a fabulous road trip — the blog equivalent of riding in a fast machine stuck to the road, handled by an experienced driver.
It’s true.
I’m Italian. I’ll take the Ferrari. [Read more…]
Ideas. Everyone talks about getting ideas. I get one. It’s great. I jump on it. I start to write. Soon enough I find myself in a pile of mush — words all over, thoughts in too many places.
What made me think this was a great idea? Now I’ve wasted all of this time. Here I sit — still no blog post and now one mangled idea. it isn’t pretty. What the heck am I doing wrong here? I was sure this idea was great. I am Atilla, the Great Idea Killa.
Yeah, I do that too.
The truth is that most ideas misbehave. They’re just not strong the way they come to us. They have a problem staying on track. Sometimes they fall apart. Often, they’re too large or stray all over the place. Your average idea needs a little help to be what it will be when it grows up to be a “Hey, lookat me” blog post. [Read more…]
Yesterday, I got a haircut. While I was waiting I looked through a magazine and took notes. I took notes on articles and on advertisements. When I was through one magazine, I had complete ideas for four blog posts — not counting this one — and 27 phrases that I thought might spark ideas later.
Not bad for just sitting around waiting my turn.
I hate actually reading those magazines in places where I get my hair cut, and there’s never time to get into a good book.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
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Yesterday, Joe of Working at Home on the Internet reminded me of my days going to press runs, when he was talking about his experience as a printer.
Immediately my mind flashed to this story.
I was in the car with my friend KB on the way to a press run. We’d worked 12 weeks straight living in the Marriott New York East Side. Now we’d flown into Chicago and were driving into one of the suburbs. She was driving. I was looking out the window. I was taking in all of the signs of the restaurants and stores as we passed by them.
Then, suddenly out of the blue I heard, “Will you . . . .SHUT UP!”
It seems I had been reading every sign out loud.
“I don’t really need you to read me every sign we pass,” she said. “What was that?”
“Sorry,” I said. “Fodder.”
I’m writing a writing program again. Writing programs are like other products. They have their individual nuances. They offer particular features and benefits, but all solid writing programs offer certain things in common. The engine of any well-built writing program is the 6+1 Traits of Writing.
If you’re reading this post, it’s unlikely that you encountered the 6+1 Traits as a student. You could find plenty about them on the Web now. Unfortunately, what you found would take the form of lessons and research for teaching school children. Why should school kids and their teachers be the only ones with direct access to the information and the rest of us have to adjust our thinking?
I’ve decided a simple action is in order. [Read more…]