Of course, as a writer, you need to read a lot. But while you obviously should read a lot of exemplary writing, you should also read a lot of bad writing.
Now, in matters of taste, there is no such thing as good or bad. So what in hell do I mean? Three things: Continue reading
You probably learned in high school how to structure an essay: “Say what you’re going to say, say it, then say you’ve said it.”
For high school students, this is a reasonable instruction. It helps them learn to organize their thoughts instead of just pouring their stream of consciousness onto the paper. It also makes essays easier to grade.
Just in case you missed day one of these gifts for writers: You’re not in high school anymore. You can outgrow the high school rule. Your readers aren’t there to grade you. They’re there because of desire. Continue reading
When you’re being paid to write something, you’re not the lone romantic protagonist doing everything yourself, expressing your true vision, et cetera, et cetera. You’re writing a thing that other people are going to read, and you want to make sure that they’ll be glad they’ve read it. I already told you this: It’s not about you, it’s about your readers. Continue reading
One time a medical editor friend told me about being introduced to someone who was “a writer.” My friend asked what kind of writing she did: technical, medical, magazine articles, fiction? She said, and my friend quoted, “I write from the heart.”
I put my hand over my mouth and said, “Oh noooooooo.” My friend joined in.
I mean, I’m sure she has good feelings about it. But if you’re writing for other people, it’s not your heart that matters. It’s theirs. Continue reading
If you’re just writing in your journal for your own fulfillment and you don’t care about anyone else’s opinion of it, congratulations: You’re in a happy place. On the other hand, if you want other people to read and enjoy your writing, you’ll want to get some opinions on it.
Here’s the problem: Your target audience may know whether they like something, but they may not know exactly why, or what you could do to make it more likeable. Continue reading
You may want to write as well as some famous successful author – or anyway, you may want to be as famous and successful as they are – but you can’t write the same as they do, and the things that work for them won’t necessarily work for you.
This is because… [a hush falls over the room; I lean in close to speak in confidence] …YOU’RE DIFFERENT PEOPLE!
Many famous writers don’t realize this either. They got successful by writing as they do with their own particularities. They have their habits and their personal rules and they aren’t always so good at knowing which of those things made them good writers and which just made them feel less insecure. Continue reading
Many people cling tightly to the advice they remember from their high school English teacher: the stern prescriptions and proscriptions, the rules for writing. Good grammar, bad grammar, how to structure an essay. Cross one of these directives and they’ll say “But my high school English teacher taught me…”
There are two things I need to tell you about this, and I’m not going to be gentle because I’m damn tired of hearing this crap. Continue reading
I’ve been a professional editor for 20 years and a (paid!) writer for longer than that, and I’ve observed a few things over those years that many people would do well to know. Starting today, I have twelve little gifts for you, one per day. By “gifts” I mean advice I’m giving you free that you would normally have to pay me for. By “you” I mean anyone who writes. If you don’t write, read it anyway. What the hell. You’re here, aren’t you?
These gifts are not rules – no no no no no. I don’t care if you want rules. The only real rule in writing is Write stuff your readers will be glad they’ve read. (Well, there’s also Don’t be a jerk, but that’s more of a rule in everything.) Everything else is commentary. And so are these: insights, suggestions, ungentle nudges. But I think you’ll be glad you read them.
Here’s a table of contents, growing until the end of the 12 days; at the end of the 12 days I’ll make an ebook of the whole thing, and I’ll also make an audiobook… for my Patreon supporters.
I have a series of word tastings that I’m doing exclusively for my Patreon subscribers – as little as $1 a month! And I am recording every one of my blog posts for my next-level subscribers – a whole $2 month! But as a little Christmas giftie (and an incentive to subscribe), I’ve made my reading of my latest subscribers-only post, on snawsmak, available to everyone. Click to hear it (and then you can subscribe while you’re there if you want):
May dad writes a column for the Cochrane Eagle. He asked me to do a guest column for Christmas, and I was happy to. Here it is (you can also see it on coffeewithwarren.com).
When I was a teenager, we lived in a big house at the foot of Mount Yamnuska. Every December, we would go out into our big back lot and find a suitable spruce tree. We would cut it and drag it across the snow and into the house, and it would spruce up our living room as we spruced it up with ornaments, garlands and those little tinsel strips the cats always ate. Continue reading
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Sesquiotica 