Make It "Writerly"

One secret is to write, as a Sol Stein calls it, in a writerly way. (See Stein's How to Grow a Novel.) In chapter four, the one on “Seeing the Details,” he gives examples of what he means. A beginner might settle for the cliché such as “Clothes don’t make the man.” A much more interesting, writerly way to say it is “The important creases are in the brain, not in the pants.”

Sol Stein states that the (good) writer reaches a little deeper than the obvious. Say it your way, not like Mark Twain might have. You owe it to the reader to be amusing, entertaining, and interesting.

And why not be brief? Bye.

Toward Improved Writing

If you're a journal writer, simply write any old way that satisfies you. More power to you.

This blog, however, is for posting commercial writing tips I've gleaned from reading "how-to" books, writing classes, and other sources. It is aimed toward helping you acquire enthusiastic readers who will pay to read your works. In otherwords, I want to help you (and I) to get published.

I'm most interested in creating novels, short stories, and poetry, perhaps because the required skills don't come easy for me.

I dabble in non-fiction, magazine articles, and journalism as well so there may be the occasional drift into these areas.