An Exercise to Set Your Writer's Voice Free

 The members of my online writing group are offered a freewriting exercise each week. A word is chosen at random, sometimes by opening a book and pointing at a word on the page. Other times, someone selects a series of connecting words for the month, such as the four seasons. 

What do we do with 'the word'? The exercise calls for the writer to start writing without stopping. Anything that comes to mind for ten minutes. It can also be done using fifteen-or- twenty-minute time slots. The important thing is to keep writing, no stopping to think, just let the words flow as your fingers fly over the keyboard (or pencil on paper). Nothing has to connect, and sometimes it ends up mere drivel. Other times, we find a golden nugget.

Many of us have ended up with the bones of an essay or story through this exercise. It's a good way to warm-up before you begin whatever project you're working on. Today's poster tells us that a freewriting exercise will 'set your writer's voice free.'

There are many writers who shun writing exercises. The thinking is that they don't do anyone any good and waste good writing time. After reading so many of my fellow writers results of the freewriting exercise, I can see the benefit that can result. I also note it in the ones I have written. Our subconscious kicks in, and it's sometimes amazing what results. 

Give the exercise a try using the words listed below:

A. reminiscent

B. brother

C. school

D. storm

E. baby

F. train

G. circus

There are seven words listed above, one for each day of your week. As an alternative, you can open a book or magazine, close your eyes and point to a word. If the word is something like 'is or the' take the one before or after. 

One of the best essays I've written emerged from a freewriting exercise. 

Adverbs Are Far Too Easy to Use

 

In school, we learn the parts of speech. Each one, we were told, has a job to do in the sentences we write. That's a pretty simplified version of learning a piece of grammar. But it will serve as an introduction to what I want to talk about today. 

Writers toss adjectives around a sentence to describe a person, place or thing--in other words, a noun. They also sprinkle adverbs into their dialogue tags with glee. They, too, are descriptive. How easy is it to have a character speak and then add an adverb in the tag line to let the reader know how the dialogue was spoken. Did John Doe speak his line harshly, happily, sadly, glumly, gleefully, angrily or some other ly word that describes a verb? Or sometimes writers use the one word adverb when a character does something. The writer wants us to know how the character performed whatever it might be. Easy enough to add one simple word. Maybe.

Using adverbs in this way speaks of a lazy writer. It tells us how the subject feels. It's far better to show what the speaker is feeling or doing. Dump the adverb and add something to show the same thing. If you do, you have a far more visual image. Adverbs can modify adjectives and other adverbs and not all end in ly, although a great many do so. 

Examples:

A. OK:   John shut the door slowly.

   BETTER:  John inched the door until it closed.

B. OK:  Sally ran to school quickly.

    BETTER:  Sally ran to school faster than a jackrabbit in the desert.

C. OK:  Sam turned suddenly.

    BETTER:  Sam slid to a stop and turned the corner.

D. OK:  "I want to go home," Joanie said loudly.

    BETTER:  Joanie shrieked, "I want to go home"

E. OK: "I don't know," Buddy whispered softly.

    BETTER:  Buddy's voice softened to a bare whisper. "I don't know." 

Do you see that the second sentence in each example is more visual? Tells the reader more? Is more interesting? 

If you want to learn more about using adverbs or replacing them, use a search engine like google to find more detailed articles. 

Writers--Don't Give Up!

 

A couple weeks ago, I noticed a sign stuck in the grass outside a preschool, and an identical one across the street in front of a house. A white sign, with large black letters on it. Nothing else. No curlicues, no flowers in the corners, no zig-zag lines. Just three words.

The two identical signs said Never Give Up. They're on a street I drive down frequently, and I've taken note of them over and over again. The first time, I thought that it was some good advice. After a while, I started thinking a lot about those words. Being me, I thought about that advice being something writers could benefit from. 

Writers get discouraged at times. New writers, seasoned writers, writers of all ages and backgrounds. When things don't work out with a new story idea, some feel ready to quit, give it up, find something new to write about. When rejections pile up, they feel despondent. When publications are at a standstill, they become depressed. A whole lot of writers wend their way through this emotional maze. 

What should you do when you're in a funk like that? Well, those three little words are a good place to start. I've noticed that every time I drive by those signs, that bit of advice speaks louder and louder to me. How about taking a sheet of white printer paper and writing those three words with a black marker in big letters? Then, place it somewhere in your writing area. You can't help but look at it every day. Black on white, three words of encouragement. 

Be determined to use those three words of advice in your writing life. Even when good things happen, like a great response from an editor, or comments from readers who loved a piece you wrote, or a story idea seems to almost write itself, keep those three words where you see them every day. 

I don't know who put those two signs in the ground in my town, but I think they will speak to a great many people who drive by on a regular basis. Three little words that make you think, pep you up, and give you a reason to keep going. Put those three words in your writing space and see what happens.

Writers Have Good Days and Bad Days

 

Today's poster is definitely Food for Thought for writers. We all have what we consider good days and bad days, but do we ever consider what each has done for us? Let's look at each part in regard to our writing life.

Never regret a day in your life:

Good days give happiness:  Those good days do make us happy and satisfied. The days that what we're writing goes well give us a terrific lift and makes us want to continue working on the project. The days when we receive an acceptance for a submission, we've made earlier make us smile all day. Days when another writer compliments us are great. Yes, days like this bring happiness and satisfaction,

Bad days give experience:  Bad days bring depression, desperation, and feeling defeated. Those days when nothing works in a section of writing that just won't gel for us. Or days when we receive a rejection, or worse--two of them on the same day. Days when our family responsibilities leave us next to no time to work on a wonderful idea we have. Hard as it may seem, those times do bring experience. We can look back later and know that maybe whatever occurred gave us exposure that might be beneficial later.

Worst days give lessons:  Ever had a bad day in your writing life that left you thinking "I'll never do that again!" If you did, it's obvious that you learned something. We need to push aside the bad part of the day and figure out what we can learn. Sit down with a cup of coffee or tea, or your beverage of choice, and look back on the day. Ask yourself what might be learned from whatever happened. 

Best days give memories:  How true this is. We don't forget the good things that have happened in our writing lives. Perhaps it was an award you earned in a writing group, or it could be receiving an acceptance twice in one day. Maybe you scored an acceptance in a high paying market. Or you wrote a personal essay that left you feeling very satisfied and ready to submit for publication. Or someone complimented something of yours that they had read.

The important part of our quote for today is that we take time to look back at each day, whether it was a good one or dark as night. We should look back and ask ourselves what we can learn, how we might make use of it, or how we can change. Yes, every day has something for us to benefit our writing life in some way.   

Do Writers Need Courage?

 

Writers need a lot of different traits. Knowledge of the craft is beneficial. A passion for writing is helpful. Time to write is essential. What about courage?

I think that courage is one of the most essential traits a writer should have. It's not easy to send your writing to an editor or press in hopes of publication. Some may think that's a silly statement, but believe me, it does take courage to submit your work to a publisher. Why?

No one wants to be rejected. If it happens over and over again, the writer has to have the courage to continue submitting. The only people who understand what being rejected makes a writer feel like is another writer. Their family and friends come up with a "Oh, that's too bad." or "I'm sorry to hear that." Then they go back to their lives, but the writer is still smarting. 

Is there any writer who does not react in some negative way to a rejection? If so, they are in the minority. Newbie writers can be devastated by a rejection, while seasoned writers are disappointed but move on. As we send out more and more of our writing for publication, we develop a thicker skin, and the rejections are not as upsetting as when we first started our writing life. That 'move on' bit is important.

Do you need courage to stand up in front of other writers and read something you've written? Many writing conferences offer time for a Read-Around. It's easy for some writers to participate, but others have a hard time standing before a group and reading what they've written. For them, it takes courage. Once they agree to read a few times, it becomes easier. 

Another time a writer needs courage is when an editor returns a submission saying they might want to publish the piece if the writer will make some changes. What if the changes are big ones? Ones that change the entire mood of the piece, or take away some of the writer's favorite parts? Will the writer have the courage to say no to some of the changes? That's taking a chance that the editor will not publish the piece. It depends on how strong the writer feels about making the changes. 

Some writers need courage to market themselves as a writer. I've often heard people say something like "Writing is the easy part, but marketing and then selling myself is tough." A lot here depends on the kind of personality the writer has. Outgoing people have little problem in promoting themselves and their work. Those who are more introverted need to gather every bit of courage they have to market themselves and their work to others. 

Some writers are baring their soul in personal essays or poems. That's not easy to do, especially at the beginning of a writing life. One thing to keep in mind is that perhaps your writing will be of help to someone who reads it, or it will touch them in some way. It takes courage to put your personal thoughts in writing and share with others. 

Yes, writers do need to have courage or to develop it as their writing life moves along. It's one of many traits that can help a writer'

Using Active vs Passive Verbs

 

Exercise is action

This is a repeat post on a very important topic. Strong, active verbs can make your writing come to life. 

I noted a comment on Facebook yesterday that made me stop and ponder for a moment. A memoir writer, new to writing I'm guessing, asked a question about verb tense usage and then added that she noticed an awful lot of the word 'was' in her writing. Let's take a look at verbs like this.

The use of the passive verb was and others like is, was, are, or were, is pretty common when writing a first draft. In trying to get the main idea down in an initial draft, we aren't thinking about the kind of verbs we use. The very experienced writer will automatically steer to the more active verbs because--well, because of long experience. Most of us need to give serious thought to the kind of verbs we use, and that's a very good reason why we must, must, must proofread and edit those beginning efforts.

In our clipart above, we take note of a person performing a series of exercises. He is active. Consider some of the verbs you might use to describe his exercising:  bend, tilt, stretch, rise, pull.  The man is active, and your verbs should follow his example. 

In Gary Provost's book '100 Ways to Improve Your Writing', he says "Generally speaking, verbs are weak when they are not specific, are not active, or are unnecessarily dependent on adverbs for their meaning."  In this instance, he was discussing strong verbs vs weak ones. 

Take a look at these examples:

                         Weak                                                                Strong

A. There was a curio cabinet in the corner.                    A curio cabinet towered in the corner.

B. There are two men on the curb.                                Two men sit side by side on the curb.

In the first example, using the verb towered in place of was gives a much better picture. It tells us the size of the cabinet. Note in the second example that the stronger sentence tells us exactly what the men are doing--sitting. In order to use a different verb in this sentence, I had to change the order of the sentence a bit, and I added a little more.  

Sometimes, you need to change the order of a sentence when using a more active verb. And that's fine. You can't always pluck the weak verb from the sentence and plop a better one in the same spot.  Did you notice that 'was' is often accompanied by the word 'there'? Some writers get in the habit of using There was, There are, There is, There were, and it becomes habitual. 

There are writers who might say 'Who cares about passive verbs? I use them all the time. No big deal.' You can use them; we have no law that says you're forbidden to use passive verbs. A few of them are fine. However, if you change as many as possible to active verbs, your writing will be stronger and more interesting. We're always advising writers to show rather than tell. Those active verbs will help you do more showing.

Just for fun, get one of your stories, essays or poems out of your files and go through it, marking all the passive verbs. Underline each one with a color that will stand out. You might be surprised at how many you find. Then, as a writing exercise, replace as many as possible with active verbs.                                            

 

Writers--Don't Stop Writing

 

Today's quote is pretty simple. Only seven words. Even so, it's good advice. "You fail only if you stop writing." 

There are many reasons people decide to stop writing. High among them is discouragement. How many times can you submit your work only to be rejected? Yes, we've all heard stories of writers who submitted a book manuscript numerous times before it was finally accepted. I admire those writers who didn't give up. It's not easy to keep putting yourself up for disappointment. One thing I'm guessing many of these writers all had is that they believed in what they'd written. Believing in yourself as a writer, as well as what you've written, should be high on the list of traits a writer should have. 

Problems in a writer's personal life can be so enormous that the writer has no time or will to continue writing. In cases like this, it is hoped that when the situation has calmed, the writer will go back to his/her craft. 

The writer who quits because of many rejections is one who should step back and try to figure out what he/she can do to improve. I would tell them to read books on the craft, then read some more. Attend workshops. It's amazing what you can learn in them from the instructor and form other attendees. It's easier than ever to attend a workshop as many are offered on Zoom. Look for a writing critique group but be open to taking their criticisms as a way of learning. It's too hard to try to do it all yourself. There are many kinds of help aids for writers. Avail yourself of them.

Another suggestion is to develop a tough skin. Learn to take criticism of your writing, whether it be in a classroom situation or a critique group or a note from an editor. How do you learn that? Maybe an attitude adjustment can help. Accept criticism of your writing as a learning tool. I find that the critiques I receive on the subs I send to my online writing group can open new doors into my understanding of the writing world. I consider that the members of my group are trying to help me make my submission the best it can be. 

Am I telling you to never become discouraged in your writing life? No, because there are many reasons we do become depressed over our writing life. We can rise above them if we develop a positive attitude. You don't want to give in to any discouragement you might be experiencing. 

Remember that old, possibly trite, adage that says: "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again." I checked to see where the quote came from but found several places that claimed it. So, who really knows when it first came to light? That doesn't matter, what the advice it gives becomes the important part. 

If you feel like you should stop writing, give some thought to the points I've made in today's post. Take a little time off if you feel the need, but if you feel the itch to write something, do come back.