Posted by coral on March 17, 2001, at 8:38:26
In reply to Re: Any writers..... » Sulpicia, posted by Shar on March 16, 2001, at 23:26:59
Whew! Shar, what wonderful advice!!!!!
As a survivor of the grad school's whipsaw, and as a writer, both of non-fiction and fiction, may I suggest the following points that support everything Shar said.
1. Get a copy of Jeff Wayne's musical version of "The War Of The Worlds", narrated by Richard Burton. (It's available on CD-ROM). For this purpose, the value is not in the story but in the power of words.
2. As Shar suggested, do NOT stop when writing the first draft for ANY editing. If you see something egregious as you're going through, make a note (Post-it's are great...) A NYC editor suggests even turning off the monitor.
3. Do whatever you have to do to get to your "true voice."
A. For me, that means getting rid of distractions, like telephone, business colleagues, family members, shutting the office door, and wearing headphones with music that distracts the "hypercritical" conscious mind.
B. Don't search for "impressive" sounding words, but do search for the "right" word. (This is important during your first draft by letting the words flow, and especially important in the editing phase.)
4. When you start editing, read it aloud with a red pen in your hand.
Good luck!!!
poster:coral
thread:5140
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20010209/msgs/5144.html