Authors need to know their audience. We must determine who will be the typical reader of our book. Too often writers naively assume— or arrogantly claim–that everyone will like their book. While having the whole world clamor to read our work would be a great outcome, it’s not going to happen; no book has universal […]
Tag: writing
I strongly recommend writers write every day, or at least most every day, according to a regular schedule. This is a great ideal, however, what happens when we don’t feel like writing? Here are some tips I use to keep me writing every day: Whatever you do, don’t fall into the trap of doing something […]
As writers, we can construct a faultless sentence, one that is technically correct in every way, a complete phrase that displays impeccable punctuation and possesses unassailable grammar. Yet, accomplishing this doesn’t guarantee the results will be understandable. Sometimes we can follow all the rules of sentence construction and fail to communicate. If readers don’t know […]
I recently discussed “Why Writers Should Follow the Rules of Writing.” Now I’ll focus on submission guidelines. The reason we should follow submission guidelines is simple: It increases our chance of publication. Here are some tips for successful submissions: You’ve likely heard of writers who have ignored these tips and found success because of it. […]
Last week we discussed “Why Writers Should Follow the Rules of Writing.” Now we’ll focus on reader expectations. When readers consider our writing, they have a set of expectations—whether they realize it or not. If we don’t meet their expectations, they will stop reading. If we fail miserably, they may never read anything else we […]
Last week, I encouraged the use of only one space to end a sentence, not two. The old convention of two spaces harkens back to the days of typewriters. Computers ushered in a new standard of only one space. This is what we must follow. There are other formatting habits that came from typewriters, which […]
The Two Spaces Dilemma I recently read some advice for older job seekers. The article warned of things not to do in their resume and cover letter that would tip off potential employers to their age and diminish their chance at an interview. The number one item on the list is equally applicable to writers: […]
Each week I write five blog posts. Each month I write one magazine article, three newsletter articles, two more blog posts, and usually one press release. That’s a lot of writing, requiring a lot of ideas. Yet I never have writer’s block. Why is that? Because I’ve cultivated a method to discover and develop content […]
The word literally means that something actually happened. However, too often, people use literally as an intensifier, effectively meaning figuratively—quite opposite of the original meaning. Consider, “He literally turned blue.” We don’t interpret this as a man becoming Smurf-like or joining The Blue Man Group, but more likely that he was having great difficulty breathing […]
One way to improve our writing is to write every day. Another method is to receive feedback from qualified sources. A third technique is to pick one new skill to study and master each week. If we learn and then practice one new skill for seven days, it will become ingrained and begin to form […]