Random Writing Thoughts

Lately, I've been spending a little time reading over writing I've done in the past--fiction, in particular. It's encouraging to see some good passages, but more than a little embarrassing to see the overuse of certain words, or the times when I tell what's happening rather than showing it through dialogue and action. Still, it's a learning experience to review past writing. It's been sitting awhile, so it's easier to read it more objectively and see what's good and what needs work.

If you've read much about how to write, you'll remember that one common piece of advice is to let the writing sit unread for at least a couple of days, then go back to it to edit. Even a little distance can help you see things that need correction or refinement.

The "show, don't tell" advice is common, also, and I find it surprisingly easy to slip into telling instead of showing. I suppose it's because my thoughts are racing ahead and so I want to get the ideas on the page before I lose them. That's where a note file on the computer, or a notebook by your side, can be useful. You can capture those ideas and thoughts without losing them, then go back to your story and take the time to develop the action and dialogue to show what's happening instead of just writing, "He did this, and then she did that."

Of course, you can always go back and revise/edit your work. That is especially easy on the computer. You can cut out lame passages and paste them into a note file if they contain ideas you want to use, then write the scene in a better way. I have to say that personal computers have made writing and editing so much easier than it used to be! There may be times when you want to handwrite some things, but there's nothing like the ease of writing on a computer!

An Essay on Writing That You Might Enjoy

I decided to Google "essay on writing" and see if I could find something that would be of interest to you. The very first link provided an essay about writing that I really think you will enjoy reading. It is "On Writing" by Peter Landry.

If you are like me, you enjoy reading about writing as much as reading about how to write or reading good writing of all types. The essay is liberally sprinkled with quotes from writers about writing.

I also ran across another essay titled "The Age of the Essay" by Paul Graham that discusses the essay itself.

I hope you will enjoy these.

The Fourth of July

A happy 4th of July to you. This is America's Independence Day. Think of your freedoms and what it cost to obtain them.

The History Channel has a nice summary of the events surrounding our gaining our freedom. The article is here: "U.S. Declares Independence".

Another interesting article by George Will can be found at Townhall. It is called "The Valuable Self-Validating Tradition".

Enjoy the reading and enjoy the Fourth. Think about what it all means for us.

Issues in Writing

I have some issues in writing. I don't mean issues with writing, in the sense that I think writing is a bad thing. What I mean is that I have personal failings that keep me from developing my writing as I should.

One is procrastination, which plagues me in a lot of areas besides writing. I think with writing, though, it is a bit of fear--fear that my writing won't be good. Then there is just downright laziness. I don't do the research to write a good, intelligent piece of writing. I don't write drafts and then edit them so that my writing is coherent and has points supporting what I am trying to say. I tend to just sit down and write off the top of my head, like I'm doing right now.

What do you do to get yourself to sit down and write, and to put in the necessary work to produce a good piece of writing? And while we're at it, what do you do to overcome writer's block--to decide what you want to write about and then narrow the subject enough to make it an interesting, informative piece of work and not just a ramble about a very general topic?

Reading and Writing

I do a lot of linking to websites that I think you might find interesting. I'm no expert myself and so I like to point you to places where you can learn more about reading and writing and researching. I hope that you find sites that will be of use to you or that you just enjoy reading and exploring.

One new site I found is written by an English professor for his classes, but he puts up a lot of background information that is helpful for anyone. You can see it here at Dr. Wheeler's Homepage at Carson-Newman College. In the left-hand sidebar are links to the various pages.

Another site for readers is Dan Kurland's Critical Reading. It looks full of useful information for getting more out of your reading, and that can give you ideas for your writing.

Vocabulary is another area that can help you with both reading and writing. Learning about words can be fun, and it can help your writing by giving you access to more precise words to say what you mean. It helps your reading in that you can understand a piece of writing more completely and spend less time looking up new words in a dictionary. One website that can help is Vocabulary. Another is Web English Teacher with pages for vocabulary and many other topics (see the lefthand sidebar). You can do a search for "vocabulary" on Google or another search engine and come up with many other sites to explore.

Enjoy!

A Little More on Writing Podcasts

I have enjoyed listing to writing podcasts as referenced in my last post. Fantasy Writers Weekly has its first podcast up now so you can check that out.

As for The Writing Show, they have another podcast up, but also you can check the archives for past podcasts that appeal to you and address your writing interests and concerns. They also have contests that you can enter, transcripts for some of the podcasts, archives for their newsletter, and other archives that may be of interest to you. It's a very interesting site!

One thing that really appeals to me about podcasts is that listening to them gives you a sense of being in on a conversation about writing, or taking a writing class or workshop. Some of us don't have much opportunity for that sort of thing and podcasts fill a void for us.

You can find podcasts on many topics around the internet and that may help you with research for your writing or getting ideas of what to write about. Windows Media Player, iTunes, and Winamp are free programs that you can download to save and listen to podcasts you especially like. Usually, you can just listen to the podcast on site, as well, to see if it's something you might want to save. You can also subscribe to a podcast and have new episodes automatically downloaded.

Podcasts are enjoyable for me and I hope you will enjoy them as well.

Some Podcasts about Writing

Since I last posted, I have discovered that there are podcasts about writing out there! Imagine that! I will share links below. Some haven't put up new podcasts lately, but you can still enjoy what is there. You can download or listen at the site. They are free.


Creative Writing Podcast at American Writers


Fantasy Writers Weekly (This one doesn't have any podcasts yet, but promises to soon.)


Holly Lisle on Writing


The Writing Show


If you know of a good writing podcast, please post the url in the comments. Thank you!!