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

Fri Aug 20 00:00:42 UTC 2010

Lori,
Thanks. I guess you could say the body is freest when it doesn't have to 
do anything at all except stay alive. Therefore the imagination is freer 
then too. At least that seems to be the case. I only wish I still had 
those kind of dreams.
Donna

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On 8/19/2010 7:53 PM, loristay wrote:
> Thank you, Donna.  Very thought provoking.  I wonder if that's why I sometimes wake up from a dream with a whole short story in mind?  No pressure when we're dreaming.
> Lori
> On Aug 18, 2010, at 2:28:54 PM, "Donna Hill"<penatwork at epix.net>  wrote:
>
> From:   "Donna Hill"<penatwork at epix.net>
> Subject:    [stylist] The Writer's Gazebo,  a new series on the tricks of the trade
> Date:   August 18, 2010 2:28:54 PM EDT
> To: stylist at nfbnet.org
> 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
> Suite 101:
> www.suite101.com/profile.cfm/donna_hill
> American Chronicle:
> www.americanchronicle.com/authors/view/3885
>
> Connect with Donna on
> Twitter:
> www.twitter.com/dewhill
> LinkedIn:
> www.linkedin.com/in/dwh99
> FaceBook:
> www.facebook.com/donna.w.hill.
>
> Hear clips from "The Last Straw" at:
> cdbaby.com/cd/donnahill
> Apple I-Tunes
> phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playListId=259244374
>
> Check out the "Sound in Sight" CD project
> Donna is Head of Media Relations for the nonprofit
> Performing Arts Division of the National Federation of the Blind:
> www.padnfb.org
>
>
>
>
>
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