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If there's one thing I'm fussy about, it's syntax. Commas don't belong wherever you'd naturally pause in a sentence; rather, there are strict rules governing their use. Ignoring those rules won't make you avant garde or postmodernist; it will simply make you look like you didn't pay attention in English Grammar class.
One thing I've noticed in my travels is that American publishers tend to be much more strict when it comes to grammar, especially in comparison with British publishers. I remember my horror, as a student at a British university, when I discovered spelling errors in university-published texts. The Queen's English seems to be much more slippery when it comes to the printed word, considering rules as mere conventions.
Luckily, journalists and copywriters - no matter what their nationality - have strict style guides to abide by. That's why I was delighted to see TheWriter.com publish their style guide online. Visit the link below to find out when to use "that" as opposed to "which" (a pet peeve that ranks up there with the misuse of "between" and "among"), whether to italicize or put quotes around titles of films and TV programs, when to spell out numbers (pay attention, Hello magazine), and more.
The Writer Style Guide
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Seven months ago, I assured myself that I'd get two books finished before I took time off to have my first baby. Surely, a book every three months was reasonable? After all, I'd been known to write a hundred pages a week -- under pressure, of course.
What I didn't count on was baby brain.
No one told me that writing under the effect of pregnancy hormones wasn't as easy as it sounds. I knew that I could expect to feel more tired than normal, but nothing prepared me for my complete inability to think laterally. Something had happened to the circuits in my brain that automatically connected ideas and translated them onto the page. Suddenly, conscious effort was required ... eeew!
Having to "work" at writing was just too much work.
So what is baby brain? And how does it affect writing? I'm no expert, but here's what I've found out...
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One thing that never ceases to annoy me about the process of writing is...
Unwriting.
By unwriting, I mean throwing away lines, paragraphs, entire scenes and chapters that serve little function aside from slowing down the narrative.
I once thought that, the better I got at writing, the less I would have to throw away. Surely, the only reason I had to cut so much was because I wasn't clear in my thinking. Once I became a great writer (I thought), I would sit down and write an entire piece from start to finish with no cutting, pasting, or rearranging required.
Sigh ... either I'm not any better at writing, or I was badly mistaken.
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Being an author of self-help requires one additional skill that they don't tell you about in writing school. It's a skill perfected by political speechwriters, but self-help gurus are famous for it, too. It's:
The ability to produce writing that's quotable
What makes a piece of writing quotable, and how can you develop that skill yourself? Here's what I've learned.
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A wonderful quote I had to share...
"Stories are the collective wisdom of everyone who has ever lived. Your job as a storyteller is not simply to entertain. Nor is it to be noticed for the way you turn a phrase. You have a very important job - one of the most important. Your job is to let people know that everyone shares their feelings - and that these feelings bind us. Your job is a healing art, and like all healers, you have a responsibility. Let people know they are not alone. You must make people understand that we are all the same."
- Brian McDonald quoted by Lynne Klippel in "Book Bites"
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Writers have a lot of excuses that keep them from writing.
When I was little, I imagined that creative people just couldn't stop creating. They were driven by their passion to express their art whenever and wherever they could. If they had to work 9 to 5 jobs, they came home and stayed up late into the night working on their latest masterpiece.
These days, I know different.
People who enjoy writing, painting, photography, or other creative endeavors are just like anyone else. When they feel "in the mood," they love breaking out their artistic tools of choice and creating something beautiful.
But, most of the time, life intervenes. They have jobs (because something has to pay the bills), a family, chores, and too little energy to stay up late doing anything much other than watching TV or surfing the net. Art becomes a hobby, something to be indulged in when inspiration hits and there's nothing else going on.
Why does this happen?
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I've been slow on the blogging front recently due to the demands of finishing off my two latest books. Yes, they're both e-books, and they're both available online.
One thing I've noticed as a writer is that, when I have a big writing project on, I don't want to work on anything else. My subconscious mind is churning away on what I've written and what I have yet to write, and I don't want to dilute its focus by switching to less important tasks. Some of my best ideas come to me at random times during the day, seemingly out of nowhere, and, if I don't act on them in the next 24 hours, I'll lose them for good.
Then there's the whole issue of momentum. When you run out of steam on a project, it's hard to rekindle that initial fire that fueled those first thirty pages. Being excited to sit down at the computer each morning is a gift, so ride it as long as you can. The world can wait.
So what are my latest books about?
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I have to share this beautiful anecdote by Robert Kiyosaki, author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad.
Kiyosaki is a self-made millionaire who began studying how to be rich as a child of nine years old. He was lucky: the father of his best friend was a businessman who was amassing an empire out of nothing.
When Robert and his best friend asked this man to teach them how to make money, they got even luckier. "Rich Dad" didn't just laugh them off and tell them that they could come back when they grew up. Instead, he decided to teach the two kids about money, using real world experience as his teaching tool.
Kiyosaki learned well. He went on to to master the process of acquiring wealth with minimal investment. His philosophy is that no one should have to "work hard" for money. Instead, it's much better to "work smart." Do your research. Crunch the numbers. Look for opportunities. Once you get good at making money, he suggests, you can make tens of thousands of dollars with only a few hours' work.
So what does this have to do with writing?
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