Appeal to Senses

When writing description, writers tend to focus primarily on the visual sense. They use descriptive language of shape, size and color that appeals to the eyes. While visual orientation is a natural and primary reference point for us, it is by no means the most powerful. When writing a descriptive scene, consider using the senses of sound, touch, taste and smell. We tend to register these senses on a more subconscious level, and therefore, underutilize them in our writing. But some of our most impressive memories are associated with a smell or a taste or a texture. Stretch your descriptive muscles to put together interesting combinations of the senses that will resonate with readers and bring your descriptions to life, for instance: the rain smells like orchard apples or the spring tastes like lemons. These sense combinations give your writing more depth and make it more thought-provoking. Your readers' experience will be greatly enriched by them and your writing experience will be more interesting for you. Whether you are writing fiction, nonfiction or poetry, appeal to all the senses and your vivid writing will be an experience your readers won't forget.

Writing Simply

Writing simply and plainly is the best policy for most writers. There may be occasions when flowery, embellished language is appropriate or even required. But for the most part, your job as a writer is to communicate clearly with your readers. This is best accomplished through lean, clean prose that gets directly to the point and doesn't lead readers on a contrived literary goose chase. This type of direct writing is achieved through careful selection of words, eliminating unnecessary or redundant words, and reducing the amount of modifiers (adverbs and adjectives) that make writing seem convoluted and confusing. Some writers mistakenly think they must use big or unknown words to impress readers, but it often has the opposite effect. Readers don't want to have to wade through difficult passages of prose. They don't want to have to stumble through overly wordy language that seems awkward and forced. They want writers to make reading easy for them, spelling everything out smoothly, plainly and as succinctly as possible. If you remember that your goal is to communicate, not confuse, you will choose language that gets to the point, informs readers clearly, expresses your ideas effectively, and gets the job done.

Inspiration vs. Perspiration

Should writers wait for inspiration to strike them before writing and should they write only when inspired? There is much to be said about the power of inspiration that can carry writers like a magic carpet, sailing them toward their goals. Writing while uninspired can be tedious drudgery that is very discouraging, which begs the question: Should you wait for inspiration? Not according to famous writer Jack London who said: "You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club." The club he spoke of is the perspiration part of the equation. What he meant is powering through those droughts of inspiration with sheer will and writing anyway. Writers who wait lose because they lose precious writing time that can never be regained. If you wait for inspiration, you may write only rarely or never at all. A true artist keeps producing even when the well is dry, knowing that eventually inspiration will strike again and the going will be easier. Applying yourself to your writing consistently through the power of perspiration or determined effort will keep you on track and steadily writing through the good times and the bad. It will teach you not to let the down times distract you from writing. It will teach you not to make excuses for not writing. Welcome inspiration when it knocks on your door, but don't put your writing life on hold waiting for it to visit you.

Follow Writing Rules

Writers are faced with many rules of writing and editing. It is tempting to ignore those rules and go it alone. Beginning writers often do this at their own peril. Certainly there are examples of writers who ignore all the rules and write brilliant masterpieces. But those instances are rare indeed, and those writers are extraordinarily gifted. For most of us, most of the time, we will benefit from listening to and following long-established guidelines for writing well. These guidelines exist because they are time-tested and sound; and for most people, most of the time, they are true. An unwillingness to follow sound writing principles or editing advice often comes with lack of experience and a tendency to overestimate one's writing abilities. Successful writers know that they must rewrite their work repeatedly to achieve their goals. They welcome rather than reject editing advice and they usually implement whatever editing changes have been offered to them. Novice writers, on the other hand, tend to believe their first drafts are just fine and don't need any rewriting. They tend to resist any urging to change what they've written. This resistance is ultimately what keeps them from developing and succeeding as writers. Embracing writing and editing rules will strengthen your writing and help you succeed. View these guidelines as helpers to get you to your goals and you'll find that you've turned your writing stubborness into writing success.

Writing Clearly

Clear writing is critical if you want to get your message across to readers. This is true whether you are writing fiction or nonfiction. Readers must understand what you write. Often, as writers, our ideas are crystal clear in our minds; but when we attempt to translate those ideas onto paper, they don't come out the same as we envisioned them. Always put yourself in the frame of mind of a reader. Is what you've written potentially confusing to readers? Is it misleading or ambiguous? Would a reader understand what you've written with the same clarity you understand it? If not, what could you do to make it more clear? Sometimes clarity suffers when important details are omitted. A good way to make sure you've included all the necessary information readers need is to make sure you've answered all the journalism questions - those questions a reporter answers when writing a news piece. Those questions are: who, what, where, when, why and how. If you've covered all these bases, you most likely have provided readers with all the necessary information they need to interpret your writing. Leaving out just one of these critical pieces of information can be enough to confound readers and lead them to a different conclusion than what you had intended. Writing as clearly and precisely as you can will assure that your message will be received, understood and appreciated by your readers.

Preparing to Write

Having a plan before you begin writing is as important as writing well. There are several things you should have a general sense of before you start writing. For example, you should know the length of the work you will produce. You should also be clear about the type of writing it is - fiction or nonfiction, a short story or a novella, an essay or a memoir - and know the parameters of the type of writing you are attempting. You should also think about your audience. Who are you writing this particular work to? What effect do you want to have on your readers? What is your purpose for writing it? You should also consider the slant you want to put on your work and the tone you want to write in. For example, are you wanting to write a piece for instructional purposes or entertainment purposes? Having these types of details ironed out before you actually begin writing will result in your writing being more focused and effective in reaching the audience you wish to reach. Readers will find your writing more useful because you have done the groundwork necessary to make it a smooth, valuable experience for them. You would not think of building a house without a blueprint. Neither should you approach your writing without a solid plan. Doing this necessary preparation work will make your writing process easier and your readers' experience more enjoyable.

Writing and Knowing

Do writers have to know their subject before they write or can they learn from writing about their subject? The traditional school of thought is that you must know your subject before you write. This sage advice warns the writer that knowledge is necessary in order to write coherently and meaningfully about a subject; and there is merit to this point of view. The famous Flannery O'Connor, however, once said: "I write to discover what I know." To her the writing came first and the knowing came later. Writing was a process of discovery for her rather than a regurgitation of research. Does this mean she wrote without any research into her subject matter? Probably not. At least some knowledge must be developed beforehand in order for written work to be effective and coherent. What Ms. O'Connor was referring to was how writing can teach us about ourselves. The process of writing with its twists and turns, its unknowns and surprises, can often lead us to destinations we had not originally envisioned. She is speaking of the internal knowledge writers can gain from the writing process, not the external knowledge gained through research. Approaching writing from this perspective, as a process of self-discovery and renewal, can make your writing experience more rewarding for you and ultimately more meaningful for your readers.

Writing Logically

A logical presentation is important whether you are writing a book chapter, a short story, an article or a poem. Your ideas must be organized and flow in a logical way that makes sense to readers. This requires planning and organization. It's not enough to just write down your ideas in whatever order they present themselves in your mind. You must create a pattern with them, a way to weave them together that communicates your thoughts effectively to readers. Working out your organization can be like putting together a jigsaw puzzle. You will need to arrange and rearrange words and phrases and passages until you find a way for them to fit together logically. This can often mean significant editing and tossing sections of writing that won't fit with anything else. Trying to force writing into a logical pattern when it doesn't naturally fit that way is frustrating for you and confusing for your readers. Think about how a debate or argument would unfold, one point at a time, each building on the other with seamless transitions as the argument builds steam. This is how your writing should be organized, building on itself, leading readers seamlessly from one idea to the next, and weaving a connecting thread through the entire work. Writing logically will make your job easier and your readers' experience more rewarding.

Show, Don't Tell

"Show, don't tell" is fundamental advice for writers. This means showing readers what you mean with effective writing rather than telling them. Readers don't want to be directly told what is happening. They want just enough information so they can figure it out for themselves. That's what makes reading a process of intrigue and discovery. A little bit of "showing" will go a long way with readers, and they will appreciate you letting them put two and two together. For example, instead of writing "She was furious with her sister (telling)," write "Her stomach cramped into knots when she faced her sister (showing)." Let the reader conclude that she was furious. By doing too much telling, the writer intrudes on the reader's experience and deadens the writing. When reading is no longer an adventure, readers lose interest. Showing rather than telling keeps the writer in the background and lets the writing speak for itself. Language can carry its own weight if you let it. Trust that your description or dialogue or narrative passage will impart your essential message to readers if you have chosen your words with care. Effective writing "shows" readers how to lead themselves on a journey they won't soon forget.

Avoid Clichéd Writing

Avoiding clichéd writing is a must for beginning writers. Clichés are a habit of speech that can easily spill over into writing. Spoken clichés are acceptable, but written ones are not unless they are used in a special way - to illustrate a point or used in dialogue to express a character's speech, for example. Writers should strive to express ordinary ideas in unordinary ways. Professional writers have learned this through years of effort and revision. For example, instead of expressing the concept of honesty by using the cliché "he is as honest as the day is long," create a new expression such as: "His eyes are as honest as a starving dog's." These kinds of fresh, startling new expressions will not only give life to your writing, they will brand you as an exciting writer with a unique and powerful voice. When revising your work, look for expressions or descriptions that come too easily (i.e., "blue as the sky, wide as the ocean, bright as the sun, plain as the nose on your face, etc.) as these are the cliches you will need to rework. Your readers want to be involved in new imagery that gives them fresh insight and new ways of seeing things. Using your own special perspective to create new imagery and comparisons will keep your writing fresh and will allow your readers to view the world through a lens that only you can give them.

Write Smooth Transitions

Effective writers transition smoothly from one idea to the next, from one sentence to the next, from one paragraph to the next. Creating links between segments of your prose makes your writing logical for readers to follow. It also creates smooth writing that flows and is easy for readers to understand. These links can be words or phrases or repetition of sounds - anything that will signal to readers that you are now moving on to a new idea and it has a relationship to the idea you are moving from. Good transitions keep your writing from being awkward and abrupt. Transitions provide signs to your readers that guide them through your thinking processes in a way that makes sense to them. Without these transitions, your writing can seem disjointed and confusing. When you transition between different types of writing such as from a descriptive passage to a dialogue passage, transitional wording is especially important. The abrupt edges of the distinctions must be blended much like a painter would blend the edges of two adjoining colors of paint. This blending, or transitioning, creates a piece of writing that is a unified whole, made up of distinct parts, but having many parts that work together to create the desired effect. Writing smooth transitions will not only help your writing flow, it will strengthen your writing and provide critical guideposts for your readers to follow.

Vary Your Sentence Style

Sentences can be as varied as writers who compose them. Having a variety of sentence styles will enhance your writing and make it more interesting for readers. There are many ways to vary your sentence style. For example, some sentences start with the subject which is followed by the verb; however, inverted sentences place the verb before the subject. Some sentences are short and choppy while others are lengthy and smooth. Some sentences are direct declarations. Others are indirect and meandering. Some sentences use a variety of internal punctuation marks while others use none. Various combinations of dependent and independent clauses will determine both a sentence's length and its structure. There are endless ways to vary sentence patterns and it is important to do so. Using all short sentences, for example, will make your writing choppy and rough while using all lengthy sentences will make your writing confusing and tedious. Always starting your sentences with subjects will make your writing feel stiff and repetitive. What you should strive for is achieving a rhythm to your writing that employs varying sentence styles to create a harmonious flow, much like a muscial score employs short and long notes, chords and riffs to achieve musical effect. The right combination of sentence lengths and patterns can make your writing musical and it will sing in readers' ears.

Write in Active Voice

Writing in passive voice is a habit many writers struggle to overcome. Passive voice weakens your writing because it creates distance between your words and your ideas. When you write in the passive voice, your readers don't feel as involved in your writing. You are holding them at arm's length with your passive style. An example of passive voice is: "The river was running over its banks." This style makes the action seem far away to readers and it is hard for them to relate to it. Active voice, on the other hand, is immediate and directly connects your words and ideas. When you write in the active voice, readers feel as if they are right there in the middle of the action you are describing. They care more about what you are saying. Active voice results in strong writing that speaks directly to readers. It makes your writing come alive with specific, concrete wording that engages readers' senses and makes them feel as if they are somehow part of the work they are reading. Rather than making readers feel that the action is far away, active voice brings the action up close where it is easy for readers to relate to it. An example of active voice is: "The river gushed over its banks." Keeping your writing in the active voice will not only strengthen your writing, it will excite and engage your readers and keep them coming back for more.

Simplify Your Sentences

Keeping your sentence structure simple communicates your ideas more clearly and effectively to readers. A common problem with writers is being too wordy and having complicated sentence structures. Along with this problem is an overuse of unfamiliar words. This can confuse readers and turn them off. A wordy, complex writing style makes readers have to work harder to understand your writing. And remember, your primary goal as a writer is to communicate, not to confuse. Readers' goals are to have their reading time be educational, enjoyable, enlightening, relaxing and entertaining. They don't want to have to work at reading. You can accomplish this for readers by avoiding convoluted, compound sentence structures and instead write in a clear, concise manner that presents one major idea per sentence. This will keep your sentences relatively short and simple in structure. You want to strive for maximum impact with your sentences, so choose words that will get to the point quickly and effectively. Eliminate extraneous words that don't contribute to the overall point of the sentence. You don't want your writing to be so short that it's choppy; you just want to have writing that is reader-friendly. A lean, mean sentence structure will help you achieve the goal of clear, effective writing and will be a style your readers appreciate.

Writing Regularly

How often should writers write? This is a question often asked by beginning writers. There is a myriad of advice available on this issue and it varies widely from daily to whenever the urge strikes. However, the consensus from most writers seems to be that regular writing is important. Whether regular means daily, weekly or some other schedule, the idea is that you are establishing writing as a habit in your life. The quickest way to ingrain a habit is to do it daily and consistently for several weeks. Once it becomes ingrained, it seems like second nature to do it. But not everyone's life has room for daily writing. Regular writing for some may be every Saturday, or every other weekend. The important thing is that you regularly set aside time for writing that cannot be violated. The frequency and the length of time don't matter as much as the commitment you are making to stay with your writing and fit it consistently into your life. I find daily writing to be the best way for me as it keeps me on track and disciplined. The daily act of writing is just part of my routine. I also do other things daily like walking and reading. The daily-ness of it is what weaves it into the fabric of my life and makes it most fulfilling for me. No matter how you choose to incorporate writing into your life, the important thing is that you are choosing writing. You are choosing it over dozens of other possible activities and making it a priority in your life. Choosing to write regularly will give you an undeniable head start on the path to writing successfully.

Writing Lean Prose

When it comes to good descriptive writing, less is more. This may seem counterintuitive because we tend to think that describing something requires an abundance of detail. However, the overuse of descriptors actually weakens your writing. Readers tend to get lost if they have to wade through dense, descriptive passages. They also become bored if nothing is left to the imagination. Giving readers just enough description to get the image across creates more exciting prose and keeps readers interested and active in the reading process. Lean description requires writers to choose words that have maximum effectiveness and eliminates the tendency to use repetitive or filler words. It also eliminates tedious writing that leaves readers exasperated and stumbling over awkward passages. When editing your drafts, look for areas with excessive adjectives and adverbs as these will be where over-description occurs. Remove most of these descriptors and keep only those that carry the most impact - those that go directly to the heart of the image you want to create in readers' minds. This kind of tight, powerful writing shows mastery over language that your readers will find both engaging and satisfying.

Find Your Writing Voice

Discovering your own voice is something writers are often encouraged to do. But what does that mean? If you write, aren't you writing in your own voice? Yes and no. You're writing in your own voice if you're able to tune out the influence of other writers and write the way you want to write. You're writing in "borrowed" voice if you're emulating other writers. That doesn't mean you can't learn from and borrow techniques used by other writers, but you should strive to incorporate them into your own style, not just adopt them as your style. Discovering your own voice has largely to do with being able to connect deeply with why you write. What compels you to put words on paper is the essence of who you are, and from that essence comes your unique voice as a writer. Discovering your own voice also has to do with trusting the flow and rhythm of your words, writing as you feel you should write, not as you think others want you to write. This means staying true to your natural inclinations as a writer and honoring that inner vision. Sometimes writers must stop reading how-to books and articles and just write. The most authentic, personal voice you can find is the one that emerges when you put everything else aside and just write. And then write some more. And then write again. Your voice is already in you and just needs to be found. Learn to trust your own writing process to flesh out your unique voice and, once you find that voice, it will be your guide for everything you write.

Writing is Rewriting

Professional writers know that writing is rewriting. Publishable work oftentimes bears no resemblance to its original draft because so much rewriting has taken place. Rarely does a writer publish work without considerable editing and redrafting effort. Beginning writers, however, often avoid this painstaking work. Instead, they become so attached to their words that they are often reluctant to change more than punctuation marks or minor rearrangement of words. Professional writers tear into their work, often abandoning first drafts and starting again or completely reworking first drafts until they are but a bare remnant of the original. They understand that this is necessary to good writing and they do not become attached to their words. Words are your tools as a writer and you must be willing to use them effectively to get the job done. This often means abandoning altogether a phrase or passage you are particularly fond of simply because it doesn't work in the overall piece. It means being willing to accept that you need to start over with a completely different focus or slant. Sometimes it means your idea needs to be thrown out completely because it's an unworkable idea. Being willing to rewrite extensively and learning that nothing you write is sacred or above being edited will serve you well as a writer and will help you become the most skilled and effective writer you can be.

Creating Ideas for Writing

What should you write about? This is a question writers often ask, especially beginning writers who have not yet built up an inventory of written work. More importantly, how do you come up with ideas to write about? The short answer is to write about what interests you. If you're not interested in your subject matter, it will show in your writing, and readers will not be interested either. But coming up with ideas that interest you can sometimes be daunting. There are several well-tested techniques for generating ideas you can utilize such as: listing, freewriting, brainstorming, diagramming, consulting, etc. You can also use ideas you've already written about and explore ways to re-slant those ideas into a new piece with a different focus. You can try combining odd or opposite things to come up with original ideas that are fascinating to readers. You can expose yourself to new experiences that will generate new ideas and interests. You can free-research with no particular goal or theme in mind to see where you end up, much like closing your eyes and putting your finger on a map. These techniques will often generate many more ideas than you can actually use, and from these, you can select the ones that seem most promising. Coming up with ideas is relatively easy. Staying true to what interests you is the real challenge; but doing so will not only inspire your writing, it will also inspire your readers.

Plan Before Writing

Letting your ideas gel before writing can enhance the quality of your writing and reduce the struggle to focus as you write. Just as a good pot of coffee has to percolate before being enjoyed, ideas must percolate in your head before you begin to write. Having a fully formed idea that is tight and focused will make your writing flow more smoothly and keep you on track as you write. Focus reduces the dead ends you may otherwise run into and it will make your writing production more efficient. Having a fully formed idea also makes your writing easier for readers to follow. Writing that meanders and lacks focus quickly loses readers' interest. An idea, at its conception, often sounds good in your mind. It's important to take that idea one step further and decide how you're going to develop that idea; and more critically, decide whether or not that idea is one that you can develop effectively. You may find, during this step, that you need to go back to the drawing board and rethink your original idea. It doesn't mean you have to have your idea fully mapped out in every detail before you begin writing, but you at least have to know that the idea is one you can carry out to the finish. It's like making a map before you embark on a journey. Resisting the urge to begin writing until you've let your ideas fully mature will make the journey more enjoyable for both you and your readers.

Observe to Write

Observing your world will help you be a better writer. Looking at scenery, people and events with a careful eye for detail and nuance will become an invaluable tool as you write your next scene or dialogue or description. Most of us tend to rush through our lives barely noticing our surroundings. As a writer, you have to slow down the pace and take in as much detail as you can, making mental notes or actual physical notes for later use. The finest detail like a crack in the sidewalk or the coloring of a leaf, or the whimsical upturn of a smile may be just the detail you will be searching for in your next writing project. And that detail you've noticed and catalogued will be there for you to access when you need it most. Nothing is too small or inconsequential for a writer's mind. It is in the details, the minutiae, that writers are able to find meaningful connections. And it is sometimes the simplest of details that can carry the most profound meaning. Readers relate more to details than to generalizations, especially if the details are memorable. Not only noticing details in your world but making meaningful connections between them will enrich both your writing life and your readers' experience.

Writing Process

Enjoying the process of writing is essential to a fulfilling writing life. The struggle to get an idea down on paper, to rework it and get it refined and then rework it again is what the writing process entails. It is this intense wrestling with words and sentences and paragraphs that the writer must find pleasure in if writing is to be a satisfying endeavor. The writer who finds this process painful and tends to avoid it is probably not well suited to the writing life. It's the practice of writing, the day-to-day molding and remolding of language that is the most meaningful part of the writing experience. Working a sentence or a phrase for hours or days on end is not tedious to committed writers; it's mastery, much like a sculptor reworks his clay until every detail is just right. The seeking of perfection in a turn of phrase or the right rhythm in a sentence is the artistry in writing. Abhorring this process means the writer does not truly enjoy writing, only the result the finished product will bring. Turning that around and learning instead to savor the process will provide a more profound writing experience and transform writing from a mundane activity to an art that you can truly enjoy.

Write First, Edit Later

"Write first, edit later" is a cornerstone of advice for writers. Getting the words down using the "creator" part of your brain is the most important first step in completing a written work. If you let the "critic" part of your brain get involved too early, you'll likely become blocked and discouraged and may never complete the work. It's important to get that first draft completed, no matter how awful it may seem as you're writing it. Just get it written. There'll be plenty of time for the critic to do its job later. Does that mean you can't do any editing as you go? No, that would be unrealistic. Minor editing as you go is ok as long as it doesn't interrupt the flow of your writing. As soon as you begin to feel the flow being interrupted, you should stop editing and return to freewriting. This means following the flow of your thoughts through association, going from one idea to the next without evaluating each transition. It involves trusting your creative mind and letting it take you where it wants to go. Don't judge that part of your mind. Let it have its free play. Then, when the draft is completed, you can go back and find out how much editing you need to do. You may be surprised to find that your writing is much better than you originally thought. Learning to trust your creative process will help you not only be a more productive writer but a more effective writer as well.