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

Fri Aug 20 13:51:48 UTC 2010

Hi Robert,
Thanks, yes, it's only published on nonexclusive sites, so the idea is 
to spread it around. You're more than welcome to use it.
Donna

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On 8/20/2010 6:59 AM, Robert Leslie Newman wrote:
> Donna
>
> It took me a few days to get the chance to read this piece of yours. Very
> good! I really paid attention in the section dealing with editing! (Got to
> vary the sentence structure, the cadence of the voice; too much of the same
> can get boring.)
>
> and so, is this something that we could publish in our "Slate and Style?" It
> is excellent advice.
>
>
>
>
> Robert Leslie Newman
> President NFB Writers' division
> Writers' Division Website-
> http://www.nfb-writers-division.org
> Personal Website-
> http://www.thoughtprovoker.info
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Donna Hill
> Sent: Thursday, August 19, 2010 7:01 PM
> To: Writer's Division Mailing List
> Cc: loristay
> Subject: Re: [stylist] The Writer's Gazebo, a new series on the tricks of
> the trade
>
> 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
>
> Read Donna's articles on
> Suite 101:
> www.suite101.com/profile.cfm/donna_hill
> Ezine Articles:
> http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=D._W._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
>
>
> 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=259244
>> 374
>>
>> 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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