10 Helpful Editing Tips
If you’re the token writer at your office, among your friends, or in your family, then you are probably asked on a regular basis to edit, review, or proofread written documents. Academic essays, business letters, and resumes will land on your desk with the word “HELP!” scrawled across the top.
Or, maybe you’re like me, a professional who offers editing services to writers and business people who want their text to be squeaky clean and irresistible to readers. [Read more]
How to Write a Memoir With a Partner
Few writers would argue that writing is a solitary pursuit. That said, collaborations between two or more writers do occur, and some have been highly successful. This is especially true when it comes to memoirs. Why? Because often one person has a remarkable story to tell but is not a professional writer, and the other person is needed to help write the personal story (and tell it in a most compelling way).
Sometimes that person is a relative or friend. Sometimes that person is a professional, paid ghostwriter or editor. In my case, I helped my mom write her memoir. At age 94 she had an interesting story to tell but needed my help to access her memories and then organize and write them in the form of a book. This was our first collaboration but hopefully not our last, because Mom wants to do a whole series of books!
In writing this memoir with my mother, I learned a lot and am delighted to be able to share my “lessons learned,” some of which will hopefully be helpful to you.
Steps to Writing a Memoir
- Start with whatever your partner can do. It can be a recorded or written list or a spoken dialogue about his or her life. If your partner cannot start, you might offer a list of key events and ask for feedback, thoughts, and reactions about these or inquire about how friends and family were affected by these events.
- Develop a list of questions on a specific topic coming from multiple angles and ask about one or two each time you meet.
- Listen and write everything down. You may not think something your partner says is significant, but months later you will see why it matters.
- Let your partner repeat stories, and view this as a chance to get new details and better words.
- Tell others about the effort. Many of our friends and relatives sent photos or came to visit and told Mom stories. Some of this material made its way into the book. Some triggered memories, which was also wonderful for all of us.
- Have your partner answer three overarching questions, appropriate to the time, and weave these into the book. These can differ based on your interests and the interests of your partner and family, friends, or business associates. I asked my mother what was her experience of the moment, what was the family dynamic in her judgment now, looking back, and how did the economy back then impact her.
- Buy books, music, and videos of the places and times to trigger memories. Mom would look at these on her own and write down a memory or thought that these brought to mind. Many of these comments were incorporated into the text. As part of the research I also reached out to local historical societies, and went on Ebay looking for relevant items, old postcards, programs, etc. Also, reviewing the materials provided hours of fun for her while I was not there.
- Read, reread, and discuss the draft text. Again, this provided many enjoyable hours for Mom when she was otherwise alone. Often I asked her to focus on a theme or a person and spend the next few days writing down whatever came to mind.
- Always work with whatever your partner’s natural tendency is. Nail it down and then push for the opposite. My mother was very factual; almost matter of fact and devoid of emotion. I captured that, and then pushed to find the little details that hinted at the emotions, which began slowly but surely to release the flood of feelings!
- Have a professional editor go over the manuscript for typos, grammar, and punctuation and also to edit out any redundancies.
More Thoughts on How to Write a Memoir
One more thing I can add from my experience that really worked: Just asking someone to write his or her memoirs can be overwhelming for that person. In our case, for a year or so previous to actually writing, we laid down the groundwork by making a video.
It was a simple production. We gathered all the family photos we could find and put them in a more or less chronological order. Mom thought about her life and we agreed upon a loose script. Then, I asked questions and she responded. We edited it down to an hour or two and were very satisfied with our results. When I finally suggested that Mom write down her memories, she had a framework.
The bones of the story are the partner’s life, the person who lived the events (unless you both did). What really matters is capturing that person’s thoughts and experiences, so be nonjudgmental in order to freely allow your partner to lead you down the path of his or her past life. With my mother, I tried to be curious about why she thought and felt certain things. I am a lawyer and a pretty strong woman, so the role of a more passive partner is not one that I am all that comfortable with. It took effort, but I was able to channel her thoughts and experiences. Working on the book brought all sorts of good things to my family and most of all, brought Mom and me closer together.
When the memoir I wrote with my mother was finished, we found a publisher, hired a publicist, and then went back to mom’s local roots for a mini book tour, which was highly successful. Mom loves to read and re-read her book. Now we are going on to the next 20 years. I hope you and your writing partner are equally delighted with the end result of your venture.
To learn more about the memoir that Deborah wrote with her mother, and to get more tips on how to write a memoir, please visit www.adalinesorace.com.
Collect Writing Resources for Better Writing
If you want to improve your writing, you’re going to have to work at it because let’s face it, nobody gets by on sheer talent. You’re going to need to acquire some solid writing skills and better writing habits.
The best way to consistently improve your writing is through daily writing. When writing becomes part of the natural rhythm of your life, your work will improve in leaps and bounds. And by proofreading and editing, you’ll catch typos as well as holes in the syntax and problems with tone or context.
Some actions you take to make your writing better may not involve writing at all. For example, you should become an avid reader so you can absorb language, turns of phrase, imagery, and story elements that were crafted by those writers who have gone before you.
Another non-writing activity that leads to better writing is collecting and using plenty of writing resources.
Writing Resources
Where would we writers be without our resources? Fat, hardbound reference books and web-based databases packed to the hilt with facts and information are both bane and boon for us. Love them or hate them, one thing is certain – if you’re a writer, you need them.
Dictionary
There are some resources that we all use — the dictionary, for example. What writer doesn’t have that bible of the language sitting within reach on a nearby bookshelf or conveniently bookmarked in a web browser?
If you’ve ever caught yourself using a word only to realize that you’re not sure whether or you’re using it correctly, you know what a lifesaver the dictionary can be. In a situation like that, you have three choices – use another word, look up the word to verify its meaning, or take your chances and pray for the best.
Every time you open the dictionary, you’re adding something to your vocabulary. You might be learning a brand new word, verifying what you thought you knew, or simply gaining greater understanding of a word’s meaning. You’ll also build your vocabulary by making good use of the dictionary’s close cousin – the thesaurus.
Thesaurus
When you’re proofreading and realize that you’ve repeated one word three times in a single paragraph, there’s no need to break your brain trying to come up with synonyms. Just take a peek inside any thesaurus and find alternatives to keep your writing fresh.
Writing resources like dictionaries and thesauri help speed up the writing process, and using them will expand your vocabulary.
The result? Better writing.
Style Guides
I’ve sung the praises of style guides more than once on this blog. Style guides exist to help you craft material that is consistent in terms of grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
As comprehensive as the English language might be, there are plenty of holes where the rules are unclear or don’t exist at all. Style guides such as The Chicago Manual of Style
There are a host of style guides available and depending on what you write, you might want to start collecting them immediately. Chicago is for authors and general usage; I use it in my freelance work and on this blog. There are other guides that are geared specifically toward journalism, academic writing, and many large companies and organizations have their own guidelines. For more information and a detailed description of style guides, check out Should You Use a Style Guide?
Better Writing Resources
As you build a collection of writing resources, much credence will be given to books that are packed with facts and information. These writing resources are the foundation and structure of your reference base, and they will all lead to better writing, but what about the fun the stuff, the writing resources that are a delight to peruse and a joy to use?
Writing exercises will stretch your limitations and give you fresh writing ideas. Lots of novice writers forgo these types of writing resources in favor of writing what they want, but the gains to be made by working through writing exercises and other creative challenges are immense and will surely pave the way toward better writing.
In fact, for those of us who aspire to becoming published poets and fiction writers, these creative writing resources may become the most powerful weapons in our arsenal. Make it a point to start building your own pile of such books.
Writing Resources are a Treat
If you’re truly passionate about writing, then you’ve probably already starting building your own library of writing resources. When you see a book on writing from one of your favorite authors, you snatch it and can’t wait to start reading. In the bookstore, you always make it a point to see what’s new in the section where they stock writing resources, and every time you pull your dictionary off the shelf, your heart does a little leap for joy.
Writing isn’t easy. It takes a lot of self-discipline and it’s a competitive world of writers out there – even if they are the warmest, most supportive community on the planet. You can position yourself to put out better writing by educating yourself with a collection of writing resources like those we’ve discussed here, plus plenty of others that deal with specialized fields (technical writing, copywriting, fiction writing, poetry, screenwriting, etc.) and reference books that provide hard facts so your work is well researched and accurate.
Have a little fun with your writing resources, and treat yourself to one or two new ones each month until you have a veritable library of such works, which will all contribute to your own better writing. Looking for recommendations? Visit the Writing Forward writing resources page. There’s a nice little list of excellent resources there including full, written reviews of each one (yes, I’ve personally read and recommend all of them).
Do you have any favorite writing resources? How have they helped you produce better writing? Share your favorites and your experiences by leaving a comment.
Sensible Writing Exercises
Ah, the senses: sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell. How do these things relate at all to writing exercises?
We delight in the pleasures of the senses, but infusing writing with sensory stimulation is not an easy task. It takes a deft and creative writer to forge written images that trigger a reader’s senses.
So, why bother? Why attempt writing exercises that involve sensual triggers?
Well, when you engage your readers’ senses, your work becomes more compelling and more memorable. Some scientists say that smell is the strongest of the senses in terms of memorability. So, if you get your readers to experience scents, you’ll have them hooked.
These writing exercises are designed to help you write with more sense. Below, you’ll find a series of short writing exercises that culminate with creating a written piece that is peppered with sensory stimuli:
Prepare
- Start with a sheet of paper divided into five columns. If you prefer to do writing exercises like this on your computer, you can use Excel or Word or some other program.
- Label the columns: eyes, ears, mouth, hands, and nose.
- Spend a few minutes populating the columns with words and phrases that reflect the correlating senses. For example, in the smell column, you might write chocolate chip cookies baking in the oven, a blooming rose, or the cat’s litter box. Be as descriptive as possible and avoid using only stimuli that please or entice; add a few that are unpleasant for balance.
Review
- Review your list carefully, testing each item on your list to see how it affects you. When you read something like throbbing bass coming from the car in the next lane, can you feel the boom?
- As you go through your list, cross out anything that doesn’t engage your senses.
- Highlight those items that really affect you – when you can feel the soft slick fabric of silk or hear the sound of a quiet breeze rustling dried and fallen leaves, you’re being affected.
The Writing Exercises
- Try writing one sentence for each of the five senses. Make sure it’s a complete sentence, and try to generate a sentence that evokes a scene. In other words “The roses smell nice,” won’t cut it. Try for something like: “She bent down slowly, beckoned by the rose’s sweet perfume and dazzling red hue.”
- Next, try to do what I did in the sample sentence above. Combine two or more senses into a single, complete sentence. When you read it back, does your nose tingle? Do you see bright colors in your mind? Can you hear the sound that you tried to evoke?
- Finally, write a brief essay, poem, or short story in 500 words or less, and be sure to stimulate each of the five senses in the piece. As a bonus, you can work in the sixth sense as well.
Tips
- Need some ideas? Start by choosing a setting, such as an event, where it’s likely all fives senses would be stimulated. For example, at a wedding, there will be the scent of fresh flowers, the taste of a wedding cake, and the sound of “Here Comes the Bride.” Other likely events include concerts, parties, meetings, vacations, and – try this one – cleaning day.
- If you get stuck, refer to your brainstorm list or practice sentences and use that material for inspiration.
- Try not to make it too obvious. A reader shouldn’t be able to notice that you’re triggering all their senses, so be sure it flows naturally.
The purpose of writing exercises is to have fun while challenging yourself. If you try these, feel free to post what you’ve written in the comments.
If you have any favorite writing exercises of your own, feel free to share them in the comments.
And keep on writing sensibly!
November News and Announcements
We are now midway through autumn. Soon, the holiday season will be here and then winter will settle across the land. Here in the U.S., November brings the Thanksgiving holiday, a time to be grateful for the blessings in our lives.
There is wide belief in gratitude as a means to promote positive thinking (and feeling good in general), which seems to be growing. By practicing gratitude each day, you train yourself to recognize the good things in life, a very beneficial practice for people who are prone to complaining or seeing the glass as half empty.
You can start a gratitude journal with a small notebook. Every day, simply jot down a few things that you’re thankful for. The best time to do this is in the morning when you wake up, or at night before you go to sleep. You can also incorporate your gratitude journal into your existing notebook. Whenever you’re feeling down, read over the things in life that are good, or add more to the list.
NaNoWriMo is Underway
There are many things for which I’m grateful, and one of those is NaNoWriMo, an annual writing contest that you win by writing a 50,000-word novel over the thirty days of November. Last year, I was a participant (and a winner!), and I’m eternally thankful to Chris Baty and the event he founded for helping me write and finish my very first novel. Now, just a few days into November, NaNoWriMo is underway. If you haven’t signed up yet, it’s not too late! Head over to the NaNoWriMo website to learn more.
Call for Entries: Interactive Fiction (mifiction)
Press Release
mifiction calls for entries from established and aspiring authors to create modern interactive fiction
mifiction, an innovative online publisher based in Surrey, is looking to reinvigorate interactive fiction using the latest in modern technology, and your writing skills. In an effort to encourage authors and to find a host of exciting and imaginative stories, mifiction is hosting a writing competition which is open to anyone with an interest in interactive fiction and a passion for writing.
“We hope to encourage aspiring authors to enter the competition with the opportunity to ultimately win a publishing contact as part of our new venture.
For mifiction interactive fiction competition rules and guidelines click here.
Deadline: 5:00pm (GMT) on Monday 30 November 2009.
All winners will be offered a publishing contract with mifiction with the overall winner receiving a £300.00 cash prize. Prizes for second and third place of £200.00 and £100.00 respectively will be awarded with six runners up prizes of £50.00 each. Judges’ decisions are final and prizes are awarded at the judges’ discretion.
mifiction is an imprint of Mobile Interactive Horizons Ltd, a company registered in the UK and founded to publish interactive text for standard mobile devices such as phones and PDAs. Mobile Interactive Horizons Ltd. is a joint venture lead by iBundle – an innovation hub for software and web companies providing innovative new tools and services for their target markets.
Announcing a New Fiction Website: Lit Drift
Lit Drift is a new website dedicated to the art and craft of fiction in the 21st century. Lit Drift aims to showcase interesting examples of storytelling, from short stories to movies to multimedia mixtape magazines, and to help its readers improve their own storytelling skills. In addition to conversations on craft, Lit Drift also offers daily creative prompts, daily short stories, and a weekly giveaway called Free Book Friday. Check it out at www.litdrift.com.
This Month at Writing Forward
November brings more great creative writing articles from yours truly. Learn about one of the best poetry resources in print, try writing exercises that tickle your senses, and get tips for editing your own work. Plus, there’s a special guest post this month on how to write a memoir with a partner. Later this month, we’ll wrap up the series on Shakespeare’s poetry.
Stay creative and keep on writing!
How to Use Research for Better Writing (and Credibility)
Almost all writers rely on research for facts and information. Even fiction writers and memoir authors, whose work is either made up from imagination or based on personal experience, will turn to research to fill in holes and answer questions.
We use writing resources like dictionaries and style guides. We use encyclopedias and reference books, articles from scholarly journals, and we rely on historical facts and data collected by researchers so we can write truthfully and honestly. We also use Google (and some of us use Wikipedia), and we use blogs and other material found online. All of this research is supposed strengthen our work and lead to more credible, better writing.
We absorb this information and then spit it back out in the words we write. Then people come along and read our words. Maybe they go off and repeat what they’ve read. Maybe they rehash our material in a blog post of their own. Maybe they use it in an academic paper or perhaps it inspires a poem or a short story. The information itself is constantly making rounds, getting processed, filtered, and regurgitated. How are we to sift through it all to find reliable facts? How do we tell the truth from the lies?
The Information Age
We are currently bombarded with information. It’s more accessible than ever before in history — millions of facts can be yours with a few keystrokes and the click of a button. Yet oddly, misinformation seems to be spreading more rampantly than ever. It’s becoming less and less common for sources to be cited and even Darren Rowse of Problogger recently noticed that external links (which are a form of citation) are an endangered species.
I find the spread of misinformation grossly irresponsible (it’s one of my pet peeves). We are so connected and there are so many ways to get the facts straight, there is really no excuse for it. I’m not talking about misunderstanding or making a mistake — I’m talking about either knowingly repeating things that are untrue or failing to get facts straight before reporting or repeating them.
But what does this have to do with you, as a writer? How does responsible research (or lack thereof) reflect on a writer’s credibility, and how does solid research and the use of legitimate citations lead to better writing?
Solid Research — The Path to Better Writing
It can be difficult to know when research is required to back up the facts. There are some things that we know from life experience or from working in a particular field over a long period of time. Other things are simply common knowledge. And much writing today involves doling out advice (tips) based on personal experience (that’s pretty much the entirety of the blog you’re reading right now).
But when you’re presenting any historical data, including statistics, or quoting sources, you have a responsibility to get the facts straight and to cite them.
Citations are important for a few reasons. First, a citation gives your readers an opportunity to look further into the topic. Second, you are giving credit where credit is due — to whoever compiled the facts for your use. Third, by citing your sources, you are showing your own work to be responsibly researched and therefore credible and accurate.
Online Research and Citation
I want to take a minute here to address research and citation on the Internet, where these practices are sorely lacking (particularly on blogs). Online, there is an added component of citation, which is to include a link back to your source. Even if your research comes from a book or magazine, you could link to the author’s website or to a store (such as Amazon) so readers can take a look.
We can get into a whole discussion about how links are internet currency and it’s considered polite or ethical to link to your sources. There are a boatload of benefits that come from using external links. Among these, building relationships with other writers or bloggers, but perhaps more importantly, making it easy for your readers to follow the information trail.
In any case, we all need to be conscious of link inclusion. After all, hyperlinks are what makes the Web go round. I know that I get frustrated when online writers discuss articles or books they’ve read and don’t bother to include titles, links, or any kind of reference. It’s something we should all keep in mind and practice more often.
Let’s Get Curious
Back to research and citations. How do you know when research (and therefore a citation) is required or warranted? Use some common sense and foster a little curiosity. Start by asking questions:
- Did this really happen? Is it true?
- How can I be sure?
- Who compiled this research and are they credible? What are their qualifications?
- Are there any potential conflicts of interest in the reporting?
- Is there any corresponding research to back this up?
- Is there any conflicting research that can provide contrast?
If you simply start firing off questions (yes, be a cynic), you’ll eventually stumble across the answers you’re looking for. Remind yourself daily: question everything.
Here’s What Writers Can Do
- Make a commitment to being a responsible and therefore credible writer.
- Check your work for claims or statements that are debatable or that warrant proof. Are you quoting a person or a text? Are you citing statistics? Are you making a claim?
- Be smart about the research you conduct. Establish credibility of all your sources.
- Double check your facts (and their sources) to see if claims have been countered. Try not to be one-sided.
- Cite your sources in the text, in footnotes, or with a bibliography (for books). On a blog or website, you can include a list of sources at the bottom of your article.
What Readers Can Do
Misinformation is not only the fault of writers and reporters acting irresponsibly. If the audience blindly soaks up information without questioning it, they too bear the burden of responsibility. We all need to be more aware of fact versus fiction.
- Be cynical. Ask questions like: where is the proof?
- Evaluate the sources, if they are provided.
- Do a little googling of your own to see what other facts or opinions are out there.
Credibility Matters
It’s important for writers to work responsibly. If you’re writing in the nonfiction genre, it pays to get your facts straight. In recent years, some memoir authors have come under heavy fire for changing the details of their own personal experiences in an effort to make their material more enticing. Readers didn’t like that at all and careers were damaged (we’re not going to name any names!).
There will always be irresponsible people and audiences who are willing to hang onto every untrue word they utter or write. You can be one of them if you choose, or you can opt for the ethical route — and be a credible, trusted writer.
The way I see it, the choice is yours.
Now, what I want to know is, does credibility matter to you? Do you feel research and citing sources are important tasks for writers or do you feel that writers should let anything go? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment and let’s discuss!
