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Writing

Edgy DC Sep 26 2007 10:17 AM

I turned in an overlong essay to Yancy last week, hating that I didn't cut it, and found out (surprise!) that the UMDB code found it too long for a UMDB posting. Rejected by software code! That sting stayed with me as I was recently referred to this great brief essay called "Writing, Briefly," with a great list of aphorisms for restrainging yourself and still keeping your voice and engaging your reader. That list, by the way, would do well to be delineated by bullets instead of semicolons. What writing tips do you have?

metirish Sep 26 2007 12:19 PM

One should always hit the space bar after punctuation.

Kid Carsey Sep 26 2007 12:37 PM

lol

Vic Sage Sep 26 2007 12:53 PM

]What writing tips do you have? * If you're aiming high, ignore other people's writing tips - good writing generally does follow certain rules, but great writing transcends them.

Edgy DC Sep 26 2007 12:57 PM

I'm not asking for rules.

Vic Sage Sep 26 2007 01:24 PM

Edgy DC wrote: I'm not asking for rules. I understand that, but even the tips offered in the essay are guidelines that assume all writing is for the same purpose. But just as not all music is written to be appreciated on a tinny radio, not all writing should be writing down to people who aren't paying attention. if i had a tip, it would be to know your audience and to know your purpose for writing. Once you're clear on that, find the style and approach that best meets that purpose in communicating to that audience. for example, a "conversational tone" might be appropriate in certain circumstances, to achieve a certain purpose with a certain audience, but is not necessarily the best way to accomplish any goal with any audience.

Edgy DC Sep 26 2007 01:27 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Sep 26 2007 06:49 PM

Follwoing such tips would not have allowed Henry James to do what he did, certainly. I don't intend to take them as rules. I apparently do need to learn --- prose, poetry, songwriting --- how to judiciously cut my work down.

Frayed Knot Sep 26 2007 02:28 PM

]What writing tips do you have? Always write as good as you can.

cooby Sep 26 2007 06:29 PM Re: Writing

Edgy DC wrote: What writing tips do you have? Don't use too much descriptive prose. I actually quit reading a book once after page one because I counted nine different colors mentioned on the first page.

MFS62 Sep 27 2007 05:49 AM

The key is in the title of your essay - "Briefly". A teacher once gave me this guideline for effective writing (I paraphrase): One of the most significant documents in the history of the United States was The Gettysburg Address. It contains fewer than 300 words. Unless what you have to say is more important, your essay shouldn't have more words than it does. And, to expand on one of your points, write to express, not impress. Later

Benjamin Grimm Sep 27 2007 05:54 AM

Yes, but Lincoln could have been even more concise.

Edgy DC Sep 27 2007 06:15 AM

Brevity is a good value, and what I need. I disagree that being brief, in itself, is a tip. Lincoln was doing something far different from what Walt Whitman, James Russell Lowell, or Harriet Beeecher Stowe were doing --- declarative prose to clarify the position of the state in a time of conflict, before an electorate of serious-minded but sporadically educated Americans. He often cordoned himself off for hours or days for writing, and walked out with perhaps three pages. It's more than the brevity, but the judicious brevity. And an impression is important also --- not necessarily to leave an impression of oneself, but one's idea.

DocTee Sep 27 2007 08:01 AM

As to brevity, an instructor once told me an esay should be "skirt length": ,short enough to catch his eye, but long enough to cover everything.

metsmarathon Sep 27 2007 08:12 AM

i've always found that proper punctualization, capitalization, and spelling are imperative to writing to an audience that you wish will regard your words well. more importantly, always check your homonyms. and more seriously, write in the voice that you wish your words to be read, so long as it is still your voice.

Johnny Dickshot Sep 27 2007 08:13 AM

Writing is like hitting. You can get into a slump, or have a hitch in your swing or whatever, but I wouldn't try a whole new batting stance, or try to be an HR hitter when you're spray hitter or whatever. Just work on your swing. I mean, I'm sure the umd would allow a two-part entry if necessary. I wouldn't f too much with what you do. If you really have to hack it down, first go thru eliminating two words where 1 are necessary, 3 where 2, etc. Then start hacking entire grafs from the bottom. If you can't do that then move the stuff up and hack the middle, etc etc etc. Sometimes excess length is because we tried too hard to get started. Just putting what you want to say first sometimes is great.

Edgy DC Sep 27 2007 08:17 AM

Well, I'm not looking for advice for that essay in particular. Whatever on that, I'm just starting a general converstation on what tips work for you, whether you're slumping or not. My favorite dressing tip --- never wear socks funnier than you are --- is a good writing tip also.

sharpie Sep 27 2007 08:42 AM

Someone once told me to get rid of all in-jokes, even if they are harmless: things like naming characters after people you knew in elementary school. I've since found that when I recognize them, in friend's writing or elsewhere it always pisses me off.

metsmarathon Sep 27 2007 09:11 AM

i once ran across a random name generator that pulled names at random from the census rolls.

Johnny Dickshot Sep 27 2007 09:14 AM

Edgy DC wrote: Well, I'm not looking for advice for that essay in particular. Whatever on that, I'm just starting a general converstation on what tips work for you, whether you're slumping or not. My favorite dressing tip --- never wear socks funnier than you are --- is a good writing tip also. Well, I was tryna pay a complement. My advice is to know the basic rules, and try to maintain some kind of rythym. If you read a writer you like, rip him off in your own style.

DocTee Sep 27 2007 09:27 AM

]If you read a writer you like, rip him off in your own style. You have no idea how many times I pass off CPF quips as my own around the water-cooler.

Edgy DC Sep 27 2007 09:36 AM

Johnny Dickshot wrote: Well, I was tryna pay a complement. Thanks. I'm rather certain I'm in a reading comprehension slump. I should start a thread about it.

RealityChuck Oct 04 2007 02:22 PM

There is one essential element for good writing. It's not the only element, but if it's not there, the writing is always choppy and hard to read. It's also a bit of a surprise, but no one has ever been able to come up with an example of good writing that didn't follow the element. And most people don't even realize it. After the first sentence, all sentences must refer to a previous one. I've italicized the references in this first paragraph. There are many ways to do this: using a colon, for instance. Or beginning a sentence with a conjunction. Or Using parallel construction. But if you look, you'll see the reference there.