Blogs That Roar: 3 Tips for Powerful Writing
January 17, 2008 by Lillie
I have been tagged by both Opal Tribble at Addicted to Writing and Misti Sandefur at Life of a Writer for the Roar for Powerful Words meme.
The post originating this award at Shameless Lions Writing Circle says recipients are to…
… accompany the image with three things they believe are necessary to make writing good and powerful.
That certainly falls into the category of tags I respond to – giving writing advice is an important part of this blog. Other recipients of this award have given some excellent tips.
Here are three things I believe are necessary for good and powerful writing:
- Turn off your internal editor when writing your first draft. Many writers who try to get it right the first time end up getting stuck on the first chapter or the first page. Dump your ideas into the manuscript with no concern about whether what you’re writing is good or not. Get your inspired ideas down on paper, and you’ll have plenty of opportunity to polish them later.
- Edit, revise, rewrite … edit, revise, rewrite … edit, revise, rewrite … as many times as necessary. Your original ideas may have been inspired, but, if you’re like most of us, you’ll have to polish and refine over and over again to turn your inspired ideas into powerful words.
- Show, don’t tell. Use strong verbs, active voice, and descriptive details to tell your story or make your point. “His brown hair brushed the top of the door as he strode into the den” is more powerful than “He was so tall he almost didn’t fit through the door when he came into the room.”
What are three things you consider essential to powerful writing? I’m tagging anyone who would like to share their tips. Leave a comment with your tips or with a link to a post on your own blog. I’ll update this post to add a link to anyone who responds to the tag.
[tags]blogs that roar, writing tips[/tags]
I love your tips, Lillie! I think #1 slows down a lot of writers because they’re so worried about punctuation, grammar, and how perfectly they’re writing that first draft. Our voice, passion, and creativity can be stifled that way.
Polishing is such a great one. Sometimes writers think the way they write something the first time is the best way it can be said and that just isn’t true. Some writers also get offended when someone critiques their work, or an editor actually edits it. I thrive on feedback. I think it makes our writing stronger to get the opinions of our readers. I had a reader urge me to bring more in one of my posts because she felt it was lacking “me.” She was right and the post was way better when I followed her suggestions.
Showing is something I continually try to improve in my own writing. It does pack a powerful punch, doesn’t it?!
Great post, Lillie!
Congrats on the award. You deserve it!
Smiles,
Michele
It’s very hard for me to take off my editor’s hat while I’m writing. But I think it’s the only way to get something on paper. With each edit, and re-edit I find new places for punchy verbs. I also discover that I get stuck with words I repeat over and over again, thinking they’re unique each time. My Thesaurus is always next to me, reminding me of alternatives.
I appreciate your suggestions, and love coming to your blog.
Some great writing tips here, i can really use them in my dutch writings i use on my squidoo
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Thank you so much.
Frank
I’ve always heard that you should use active voice, but your example really hit home. There is a HUGE difference between the two, one I never noticed until now.
Thank you!
These are three fabulous tips!
I too am guilty of editing too much during the beginning process. I also need to remember to continually refine my work.
I have published a number of articles but I have yet to complete a book. I am working towards getting my book published by first laying out a map of the main ideas (one sheet of paper on which I continue to add and subtract ideas). I then take each idea and write an article and/or a blog post about it.
I am slowly working throught my map and I plan to have a manuscript completed before the end of the year.
Thanks for your post.
Cheers,
Steve
those are really good tips, I’m going to definitely start utilizing some
reading rec´s last blog post..2666 by Roberto Bolano
reading (if you wrote YourName@Keywords, I could address you as a real person, and you would still get your keyword link),
Glad you found the tips helpful.
Great information. I need to write a lot of posts for my blogs, so this will come in handy.
Bob,
Glad you found the post helpful.
I’m glad you agree with my tips, Michele. It’s hard to narrow down the key points of strong writing to three elements, but these are areas I see over and over in working with editing clients.
I think all of us writers share similar problems. That’s why sharing tips like this can be so helpful – we realize we share common problems and learn from each other’s experiences.
You make a good point about repeating words; most of us have favorite words we use too much. Recurring patterns in structure can also be a problem. I recently did a sample edit on a novel in which just about every paragraph had a sentence or two or three that began with a long introductory clause. That structure became monotonous after awhile, and the work needed some short, simple sentences for variety.
I’m glad you like coming here, Travelinoma. I love having you.
Frank,
I’m glad you found the tips helpful. There are probably many differences writing in Dutch compared to writing in English, but these elements apply to powerful writing in any language.
I’m glad my example helped, Mario. Many of my editing clients have a problem with the difference between passive and active. I remember the first draft of my own first novel – written almost entirely in passive voice.
Steve,
I’m glad you found these tips helpful. I hope you enjoy my new series on editing.
You have a good plan to finish your book. Good luck with completing the manuscript this year.