On writing, thoughts to help perfect your writing Options

[McGonagall's Cat]

5 Tips For Developing Your Writing Voice
By Anne Wayman (from her 6/2/04 newsletter for Freelance Writers)


It's all about you
Ultimately, the thing that distinguishes you from every other writer is your voice. Sure, you’ve got to get the research done, or the character developed. But how you get the facts or set the scene down on paper is a reflection of your voice.
This is why you can write an article on the 10 best ways to cook chicken and I can write an article with the same title, and even the same recipes, and both articles end up being quite different. Each has been filtered through our individual experience and set down in our individual voice. It’s also why, although many mystery novels have roughly the same plot (I.e. who done it), each one is different. In fiction, not only does each author have their own unique voice, they develop a voice for each character.

Dictionary.com defines voice this way: The distinctive style or manner of expression of an author or of a character in a book.

So how do you develop your own voice? Here are 5 tips:


1. Write honestly, from the heart.
When you write from your feelings, your voice will be automatic. Of course, you’ll have to rewrite and edit, but allow your honest feelings to surface and show.

2. Write as if you were writing or talking to a friend.
When you’re writing or talking with a friend, the honesty and passion show up. So does the clarity. Clarity, even simplicity, expressed through you will make your writing sing - in your voice.

3. Picture your reader.
Every time you write, you’re writing for a particular audience. Think how you would address one reader in that group as if they were a friend. Write for that person.

4. Read widely
Read all sorts of things. Get out of your field and read something you’re not inclined to read. Notice the voice. Can you see yourself writing that way? If not, why not? The answers don’t matter; the key here is just to become aware of voice.

5. Experiment
Break out of your comfort zone. If you always write articles, try a short story, or part of one. If you write mostly for high-end travel magazines, try something for children. The goal here isn’t to break into a new market, although that may happen, it’s to play and experiment and stretch your boundaries. You can even do this with a sentence or two as an exercise.

In many ways your writing voice is automatic. It’s built in. Which doesn’t mean you can’t improve it or enlarge it and develop even more flexibility and resourcefulness.

Write well and often,
Anne Wayman

[GinnyAuror00]

I have found one of the best writing websites here. Look it up....it's brilliant!

[McGonagall's Cat]

<pulls out soapbox and stands on it>

For all of us who are just starting to get comfortable with writing in front of others...


Writing 101


First and most important, don't doubt yourself. Those of us out here have no idea that you feel insecure. You're the writer, you're completely in charge. Act "As Though". That means Act As Though you know what you are doing, and the rest of us will believe you do. We want to believe you are wonderful anyhow, so don't tell us otherwise. Fake it 'till you make it!



Get your thoughts down, then go back through what you've written and try to read it as though you are someone else exploring the piece for the very first time.

Is there a way to say it more clearly?
You've just written a sentence where Ron, Harry, and Neville are talking with eachother.... Be really careful using the pronoun "he" in the next sentence or two because you have three different "he's" it could refer to, even though YOU know you meant Harry.

NEVER use "general" words when you can be specific. The word "thing" (and its relatives) should NOT exist in your story, anywhere, ever.
Another good word to avoid as much as possible is "and". Saying "...this, that and the other" is acceptable, stringing several thoughts together with "and" is lazy and boring!

Be aware of reusing words, especially in close proximity, certainly never in the same sentence. It will appear you have a limited vocabulary and is tiring to read.


Show me, don't tell me! Use descriptive pictures to get your idea across. Don't tell me Harry is afraid. Tell me instead that the corridor he is walking through has menacing shadows, the walls seem to move, the Portraits are all of evil-looking wizards from the Inquisition who are looking longingly at Harry. Describe what he is feeling and why. Show me, don't tell me.

Let me know what the setting is like. The setting is another character that can say a lot about the mood or what might happen next. It's really tough to be scared if the setting is sunny and there are puppies bounding around in the daisy field.
Don't write "he (or she) said" after every bit of dialog, and break up your dialog form. Have the identifier be at the beginning of some dialog sentences, in the middle of others, and at the end of some.
He asked, "What is that?"
"What," he asked, "is that?"
"What is that?" he asked.

[StarWalker]

... Fake it 'till you make it!...

Rather reminds me of an old adage I learned the first time I was orally examined for a qualification.

"If you can't dazzle 'em with brilliance, then baffle 'em with bull!"

As long as the other guy doesn't know more than you, it works most efficaciously.

R/
Clyde

[McGonagall's Cat]

For those of you who couldn't have slept tonight without hearing this....

CBS radio news is reporting that today is National Punctuation Day in the USA.

[zymurgy]

For those of you who couldn't have slept tonight without hearing this....

CBS radio news is reporting that today is National Punctuation Day in the USA.

Really?
!-?:;''&*!?

[pinkpanther]

"If you can't dazzle 'em with brilliance, then baffle 'em with bull!"

This was a favorite saying of my high school speech teacher and I have definitely lived by it many a time (plus, it's just so much fun to see if people fall for it)!

[Andi]

"If you can't dazzle 'em with brilliance, then baffle 'em with bull!"

Haha! That is a great quote! It's so true...

[McGonagall's Cat]

A helpful download from http://www.komando.com

If you're a starving student or a fixed-income senior,
help is on the way! AbiWord is a word processor similar to Microsoft
Word, only it doesn't cost a penny!

Programmers who encourage free software (called Open
Source) created AbiWord. Using this software, you can read and
write Word documents. You can create tables, lists, images and
styles. You can even mail merge.

Best of all, AbiWord is multi-platform-- use it on
Windows, Linux and other operating systems. A Mac version is on the way.

At a wee 4.9 megabytes, AbiWord works on geezer
computers. For me, it looked and acted like a skinny Word, but with an
intuitive Mac feel.
Check it out!

TO VISIT THIS SITE, GO to:
http://www.abisource.com/download/

[McGonagall's Cat]

I was in need of accurate Brit Slang, so asked our very own Madam Marsh for help. She suggested this site:

http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/

The search feature is quite good. Have fun!

[McGonagall's Cat]

A question concerning copyrighting writing came up, and these two links seemed reasonably germain for US writers.


http://www.nolo.com/article.cfm/ObjectID/4...10/276/136/FAQ/

http://www.nolo.com/resource.cfm/catID/DAE...1F7513/310/276/

[McGonagall's Cat]

Another source for information on Fan fic Legalities (like copyright infringement and fair use issues).

http://www.tushnet.com/law/fanficarticle.html

[McGonagall's Cat]

Here is a site that does much of what Project Ferret does, but not strictly in the world of Harry Potter.

http://www.writespots.com/

[evlpez]

Rating your fan fiction (elsewhere):

The New York Times has an article about The Motion Picture Association of America's ratings code - G, PG, PG-13, R and NC-17 - being used in relation to fanfictions - including those featuring Potter.

The association recently sent letters and emails to people who write online fan fiction, demanding that they stop tagging stories with the ratings.

"We have a right to go after people who use our trademarks without permission, big or small, whenever we find out about them," said John Feehery, executive vice president for the association.

Wendy Seltzer, a lawyer with the Electronic Frontier Foundation said it is not a trademark infringement, "It's like saying a beverage tastes like Coke."

Heidi Tandy from The Leaky Cauldron, is also quoted in the article pointing out that the ratings are used by foreign films and are therefore not exclusive to the association. She also said that the association would have trouble stripping its ratings from the 'cultural vocabulary'.

The rest of the article can be read here.

Source: The Snitch

We'll be making a small change to the Project Ferret Site Guidelines to reflect this bit of nonsense... er, news. The content of our site is still aimed at nearly all ages, only now it is called K+, not PG.

For more information about what I believe will be the new standard rating system for Fan Fiction, visit http://www.fictionratings.com/guide.php.

[timeturner]

Here's a helpful site for anyone looking for writing tips, free e-courses/newsletters, freelance listings, etc

www.aboutfreelancewriting.com