[stylist] The Writer's Gazebo, a new series on the tricks of the trade

[Donna Hill]

Hi Friends,
Since this latest series I'm doing for American Chronicle involves 
writing, I thought I'd post more than just the link.
Enjoy,
Donna
***

The Writer's Gazebo: Tips to Improve Your Writing Through Empathetic 
Thought & Precision Editing

August 18, 2010

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/177606


Have you been reluctant to write your unique stories and experiences? 
Are you writing, but not as well as you'd like? What pitfalls limit most 
people from becoming better writers? In the series The Writer's Gazebo, 
Hill establishes a relaxing place to learn how to improve your craft.

After 60 years of observing and writing about my fellow inhabitants of 
Planet Earth, I can't recall ever thinking that anyone did not have a 
story. Whether it is the true account of your life's journey, your 
perspectives on the world or a fictional tale, everyone has something 
unique that could be captured through the written word.

Why then, do so few write? There are many reasons; from the profoundly 
sad belief that they have nothing to offer to the absurdly arrogant 
notion that their story is so special that someone else should be 
writing it, excuses abound. Two things, however, stand out as a plague 
impacting most would-be writers: they don't recognize the importance of 
deliberate and protracted empathetic thought, and they haven't 
incorporated the respect for and the process of editing.

Time Away From the Computer: The Benefits of Thinking

When J.K Rowling came up with the idea for the Harry Potter series, she 
was on a train without pen and paper. She has often said that this was a 
blessing, because she spent the time thinking through the story.

Thought is a far more efficient method of testing plot lines and 
character attributes than writing them down. Making snap decisions about 
a character's background, without walking in that character's shoes 
along the paths which led to the story at hand, leaves the writer with 
less information about the story.

While the fingers are poised above the keyboard or curled around a pen, 
questions that arise about the things necessary to carry out a given 
plot are often brushed to the back of the mind. However, they can be 
explored in the imagination to their logical conclusion. In nonfiction, 
thinking about a story can uncover underlying assumptions that need 
clarification and other issues which will ultimately lead to a more 
interesting, more informative piece.

So, take a walk. The imagination is freer to wonder around when the body 
is as well.

Editing: the Heart of Good Writing

Shoddy editing is rampant nowadays. Beyond poor spelling and grammar, 
haphazardly organized, redundant and one-dimensional prose passes as 
well-written. In our instant-gratification-oriented culture, people 
expect excellent writing to instantaneously flow from their fingertips. 
When it doesn't, which is typical even for the best writers, frustration 
paralyzes them.

Editing is not merely going over a piece three or four times. The 
process, for most of us, is painstaking and ubiquitous. It surprises me 
what I will discover in a piece even after I have reread it dozens of 
times. Embrace this reality and join the club. Passing this job off to 
an editor in the early stages of writing is giving control of your story 
to someone who doesn't have the benefit of your best effort. It can lead 
to expense and heartache.

Tips for Becoming a Better Editor

The type of editing which captures the best of your writing and 
incorporates the most of your thinking is precision editing. There is a 
magic that happens when pen hits paper or fingers dance on the keyboard, 
but it is the pre thinking and the security of knowing that you will 
deliberately and repeatedly pick through a piece for a standard list of 
issues that makes the magic possible.

The process starts with double-checking spelling and grammar. Relying on 
Spell Check is not sufficient and will lead to glaring errors. Here are 
five other things to keep in mind:

1. Vary the structure of your sentences.

2. Use sentence structure to build or dissipate tension.

3. Develop a personal sense of the balance between dialog (quotes in 
nonfiction) and narrative.

4. Reread to verify the sequence in which information is presented.

5. Double-check for the accuracy of your information in fiction as well 
as nonfiction.


-- 
Read Donna's articles on
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www.suite101.com/profile.cfm/donna_hill
American Chronicle:
www.americanchronicle.com/authors/view/3885

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