Writing craft – Page 6 – Patricia J. Parsons

5 tips to avoid writing errors that drive editors crazy

Posted on 27 Apr 2021 by Patricia J. Parsons

Why is writing correctly so important? It doesn’t matter whether you write ad copy, corporate blog posts or novels; it’s important because it provides us with a set of shared understandings of the meaning of words, phrases and sentences. And those are the building blocks of writing.

A proper grasp of grammar, punctuation, syntax (all the elements of style) makes you appear more professional and more knowledgeable. On another level, it’s important because poor grammar pegs you as an amateur in the eyes of editors, agents and, yes, readers.

Can you ever break the rules? But you do it consciously, for a reason, and only after you’ve learned what those rules are.

Some errors are broken so often that they drive editors (and many readers) crazy. I’ve identified five errors that editors (and agents and often readers) hate so much. Are you making any of these errors?

Can you figure out the correct answer? For answers and explanations, the video is live.

I versus Me
- Which one of these is correct?
  - The coach asked Jim and I to stay late.
  - The coach asked Jim and me to stay late.
Dangling Modifiers
- Which of these is correct?
  - *After declining for three months, book sales began to revive after Susan’s new marketing approach.
  - *After declining for three months, Susan’s marketing approach started to revive book sales.
That versus Who
- Which of these is correct?
  - *She’s a woman who knows what she wants.
  - * She’s a woman that knows what she wants.
Parallelism
- Which of these is correct?
  - *We went skiing in the mountains, swam in the ocean, and drove in the desert.
  - * We went skiing in the mountains, swimming in the ocean, and driving in the desert.
That versus Which
- Which of these is correct?
  - *The sweater that has a moth hole is in the drawer.
  - *The sweater, which has a moth hole, is in the drawer.

Writing, Writing craft, YOuTube

5 Great Writing Tips from Five Great Writers

Posted on 20 Apr 2021 by Patricia J. Parsons

In these days of social media, it seems that new and wannabe writers often look to other newbie writers for advice and direction. This behaviour always seemed odd to me. In most other fields, people would look to those who have mastered their craft.

Over the years, I’ve often looked to the great writers for their best advice for writing and the writer’s life. The truth is that not all of their advice is applicable, but there is much to be learned from what they have to say.

This week, I have five tips from five great writers.

Summary

Always stay a student to your craft. If you ever feel as if you’ve mastered writing and fail to focus on ways to continually improve, you are fooling yourself―but you won’t fool the readers.
1. “We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.” —Ernest Hemingway
Never fool yourself into thinking that your contribution (or potential contribution) to the world of books and writing is irreplaceable.
1. “If I had not existed, someone else would have written me, Hemingway, Dostoyevsky, all of us.”—William Faulkner
Reading is the lifeblood of writers. If you don’t read―a lot―don’t write. Ever.
1. “The greatest part of a writer’s time is spent in reading, in order to write; a man will turn over half a library to make one book.”—Samuel Johnson
If you think writing success is a simple result of knowing the rules for creation, you might as well stop writing now. There are no rules.
1. “There are no laws for the novel. There never have been, nor can there ever be.”—Doris Lessing
Write because you have to, not because you care what others will think of you.
1. “Literature is strewn with the wreckage of men who have minded beyond reason the opinions of others.” —Virginia Woolf

Extras

“If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.” Stephen King

“One day, I will find the right words, and they will be simple.” Jack Kerouac, The Dharma Bums

“No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader.” Robert Frost

And my personal favourite

“How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.”
~ Henry David Thoreau
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Writing craft, Writing Nonfiction

5 Tips for Tightening Your Writing

Posted on 13 Apr 2021 by Patricia J. Parsons

Seventeenth-century philosopher Blaise Pascal once wrote the following:

“I would have written a shorter letter, but I did not have the time.”

Clearly, he had an innate sense that tight writing takes time―and is preferable in many ways. The concept of “writing tightly” is one that all writers have to come to terms with at some point in a writing career. The reason this is so important is simple: tight writing is more likely to be published.

When an editor tells you that you need to tighten your writing, what does that mean? If you think it means to trim your narrative of all unnecessary words and phrases, then you’d be right.

Tight writing is important because it compels the reader through your copy, whether it’s your book, feature article, blog post, or advertising copy. Loose, wordy writing slows the forward motion of the story and bores readers.

In this week’s video, I explain my five tips.

Tips summarized:

Use fewer prepositional phrases.
Eliminate filler words.
Use strong stand-alone words instead of weak words padded by adverbs.
Remove redundancies.
Read everything you write out loud and listen to it carefully.

Some extra resources for you:

Common Redundancies in the English Language. https://www.thoughtco.com/common-redundancies-in-english-1692776

Linda Alley. Why Tight Writing is Not Just for Journalists. https://medium.com/@linda_44105/why-tight-writing-is-not-just-for-journalists-bd037d907447