Writing Tips!!
Connect with your audience
Writing is thinking (and so is reading!)
Lazy thinkers are reflected in their writing.
Make meaning early
Begin sentences with subjects/nouns and verbs. Subject, verb, then the rest of the sentence.
Ex. 7000 fans screamed at the sold out concert last night.
Activate your verbs
Never use the passive where you can use the active!
Allowing = worst verb ever.
You either did or you didn't.
Not. She got her permit, allowing her to drive to school. (⇐ Don't know if she did drive. Even without her permit she could have driven, it wouldn't matter if she was "allowed".)
Ex. Bond bolted the window shut but moonlight still filtered through the glass.
Avoid -ing verbs
Avoid "-ing's"! Take it easy on the "ings", it makes verbs weaker. After a while all the words begin to sound the same.
Concerts, not pancakes!
Make your writing like a concert: it starts off good, there are some less interesting things in the middle, and it ends good. Don't make it like a stack of pancakes: it seems like a good idea at first, but after a while the pancakes seem soggy and there's dripping syrup and it's just a bad idea now. This style of writing can be applied to essays, paragraphs, or even sentences! Start off good and leave off good!
Use quantity to improve quality
Write too much and edit it down!
Punctuate with power and purpose!
A sentence is like a street/highway, the period is a stop sign. Punctuation tells the reader when to pause, take a breath, what emotions are in a sentence, etc....
Echo/mirror words The same word more than once in the same paragraph. Avoid it - it's not a good thing!
Eliminating sledgehammer words
Sledgehammer words: Words intended to add emphasis that actually detract from the author's message because they are unnecessary, over-used, and often too powerful for the context. Sentences are better off without them. They should be used rarely for dramatic emphasis.
Words: really, extremely, constantly, always, never, obviously, very, clearly, a lot
Clearly and obviously makes people feel stupid. It's not obvious to everyone, it's insulting.
Always and never are not always true.
Ex. High school students always procrastinate. (⇐ could be rewritten...)
Ex. Often times, high school students will procrastinate.
Ex. Procrastination is a problem for many high school students.
Ex. After work, she was extremely tired and alone.
"Extremely tired" can be replaced by "exhausted", or the whole second part of the sentence could be "she felt tired and alone" or "she felt exhausted and lonely".
Consider your engine... what drives your writing?
What is the essential question you are trying to answer?
Revisit sentence basics
Compound sentences (conjunction: using and to join two sentences), fragment (me/I), run-on (don't do that!).
When you're not sure whether to use me or I in a sentence, take out the other subject and see if the sentence still works. Then you know if it is the correct noun or not.
Not. Me and my dog went to the pet store. (⇐ then becomes "Me went to the pet store" if you take out "my dog", which is the other subject.)
Ex. My dog and I went to the pet store. (⇐ then becomes "I went to the pet store", which is correct.)
NOoooO!!!!
Exclamation points, caps, and bold:
Do not over-punctuate (adds too much power and not enough purpose).
Avoid all-caps, bold, italics, and underlines.
Instead, use a thesaurus.
Pay attention to tenses
Don't suddenly change from past tense to present tense, etc.
Watch those adverbs
Use them to change the meaning of the verb; at their best adverbs "spice up" a verb or adjective, and at their worst they express a meaning already contained in it (it becomes redundant). Most often ends in "-ly".
Some redundant examples:
The blast completely destroyed the church office.
The cheerleader gyrated wildly before the screaming fans.
The accident totally severed the boy's arm.
The spy peered furtively through the bushes.
Example of Bad and Good:
She smiled happily. (⇐ happy is in the connotation...)
She smiled sadly. (⇐ tells how she smiled.)
Vary the length of paragraphs
Go short or long to match your intent.
Coherence: When the big parts of an idea fit together.
Cohesion: When the individual sentences connect.
"The paragraph is essentially a unit of thought not of length." - H.W. Fowler.
All sentences in a paragraph should be about the same thing and more in a sequence. Writers can break up long paragraphs into parts, but not paste together paragraphs that are short and disconnected.
"The purpose of paragraphing is to give the reader a rest. The writer is saying to him, 'Have you got that? If so, I will go on to the next point'..."
-How much rest does a reader need?
Riff on the creative language of others
Make word lists, free associate, be surprised by language.
Writers collect sharp phrases and colorful metaphors.
Be careful of plagiarism (copying someone else's work - kidnapping the creative work of others).
Riff: improvisation: to take what is already known and apply it as metaphor to the new.
Thomas Edison explained his "new" idea with old aqueducts of Rome: currents in electricity and water (relationship)
Use others' writing as a tool to compose your way to the next level of invention.
"Just do it": We aren't a "just do it" society, we're a "permissions/forms" society.
Nike: slogan is opposite of what we are.
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The Loop
* Character is looking back, seem like the present, but is in the past
* At some point, your writing (nonfiction) will loop back to the beginning ---> x
* Never "concludes", it should stay with the reader
* What does this have to do with me/you/etc.?
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News Writing 101
The Lede - First Paragraph
- One or two sentences
- Who, what, when, where, why, or how?
- Main, most important actions and events of the story
Hard Lede - comprehensive thesis. All the facts.
Soft Lede - creative, attention getting. 2 sentence.
Typically 25 words or less.
"Nut Graph" - Nut shell paragraph. Optional. Paragraph 2.
Lede
NG/Nut Graph (Optional)
Quote/statistic/evidence
Transition
Quote/stat/ev.
Transition
...
↓
Soft Ledes might need an NG to explain further, hard ledes not so much.
Captions - can be tied into the writing piece - a name in the headline/the headline, the first few words of the article, on the pictures as a title, etc.
Caption Writing 101: First sentence describes (present tense) image/tells you what you're seeing, 2nd describes past tense/background information that isn't obvious.
Echo/mirror - same word more than once in the same paragraph. Avoid - it's not a good thing!
3rd person/objective - "amazing/unfortunately" is bias. Avoid it! Just give info/news, don't use words that reveal bias.
"Never use a large word when a diminutive (small) one will suffice!"
You have a job - find the smallest word that can do the job.
The more/less you have these, the further/closer it is in a paper:
Proximity - closeness (location - San Diego or Iowa? San Diego is closer.)
Importance/consequence - 10th burglary? Jailed or on the run? People will know.
Timeliness - issue yesterday or a month ago? Yesterday.
Human interest - important news: holdup at the back > cat in a tree
Oddity/unusual - Octomom (8 children) ⇒ shocking
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Personal Statements
- Easily transferable to cover letter
- Emphasize and provide evidence for:
1) interpersonal skill
2) work ethic/habits
3) problem solving
4) academic skills and/or experience
- One page PDF
- Presented on DP as a Personal Statement - later, repurpose as a cover letter
- Challenge/optional: use terms/phrases that are meaningful to a potential employer
- Ask yourself: what makes you the ideal worker/qualify for this job? (or internship?)
- The hidden prompt question: why are you an outstanding intern?
Tips For Cover Letter Success
- Be concise!
- Be specific!
- Use evidence and examples
- SHOW your content
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Tips for success in a complicated project
Start!! RIGHT AWAY!
Go from general to specific.
Use quantity to improve quality.
Create ⇒ Share ⇒ Critique ⇒ REPEAT!
Work on different aspects.
Read about it. (See what is out there, news, helps you understand it, sources, what to look for/ask)
Get examples.
Visit different locations.
Work on it every day!
Go back to the beginning and do it again!
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