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Glossary for Creative Writing
There is in writing the constant joy of sudden discovery, of happy accident.
H.L. Mencken
Prewriting
The best time for planning what you want to write is while you're doing the dishes.
Agatha Christie
How to get started. Knowing your reader. Ask yourself:
What does my reader know?
What does my reader need to know?
What does my reader want to know?
What does my reader think, feel, say, and do about my subject?
Set aside time to write (Are your a morning person, a late afternoon person? Do you need a deadline?)
Avoid interruptions.
Develop a sense of discipline (Pliny: "Nulla dies sine lean" - "Not a day without a line"; do your writing at the same time every day).
If you're confused: try to tell someone else what you're trying to say.
Break the material down (on a set of cards etc.)
Warm up: doing the easy stuff first (advice from Ernest Hemingway; he stopped writing in the middle of a sentence, in the middle of a paragraph - it was easier to get started the next day if he resumed his train of thought rather than have to think up a whole new one.)
Write with one person in mind (or a group etc.)
Break the pattern (for example: write a different time, change the paper, the pen etc.)
How to Cluster
Remember the Mind-Map (compare brain-storming; or: make use of the right side of your brain!)
In most lives insight has been accidental. We wait for it as primitive man awaited lightning for a fire. But making mental connections is our most crucial learning tool, the essence of human intelligence: to forge links; to go beyond the given; to see patterns, relationship, context.
Marilyn Ferguson
Freewriting
Set a time limit (5-15 minutes at a time; take frequent but short breaks)
Write nonstop - don't stare at the words, misspellings etc. (editing and correcting is predominantly a left-side brain activity). Open the gates. Let the words pour out onto the page. Take some risks now, when there are no penalties => Write quickly.
Forget about spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
Let your mind go. Freewriting is for you. Forget about what anyone else might think.
How to freewrite from a cluster
For constructing a work of art you need some principle of repetition or recurrence; that's what gives you rhythm in music and pattern in painting.
Northrop Frye
Write a cluster first, then number all your items in the order you wish to write about them.
Freewriting prepares us for the next step in the writing process: rewriting.
Rewriting
What makes me happy is rewriting. In the first draft you get your ideas and your theme clear, if you are using some kind of metaphor you get that established, and certainly you have to know where you're coming out. But the next time through it's like cleaning house, getting rid of all the junk, getting things in the right order, tightening things up. I like the process of making writing neat.
Ellen Goodman
I never had a pencil that outlived its eraser.
Vladimir Nabokov
Rewriting is called rewriting because we do it after we've already written something. Nevertheless, most of us have a difficult time trying not to rewrite while we write... What we don't realize is that trying to write and rewrite simultaneously is like building with one hand while destroying with the other...
What am I trying to say?
Did I say it clearly in a sentence or two?
Are my ideas presented in a logical order?
Did I leave something out?
What questions will my reader ask now
Words are like leaves, and where they most abound,
Much fruit of sense beneath is rarely found.
Alexander Pope
Check the overall flow:
the paragraphs (Unity: Have I assigned basically one idea to each paragraph?; Coherence: Does each sentence within the paragraph flow logically into the next?; Emphasis: Have I placed the important information at the beginning and end of each paragraph?),
the sentences (especially the opening sentence; length),
the phrases (what about clichés, jargon, bureaucratic phrases etc.; prepositions (too many prepositional phrases in a row drains the reader's energy),
the words (verbs are where the action is - the best verbs rarely need an adverb; some ideas: active voice versus passive voice; careful with the forms of the verb "to be" - are other verbs possible?; adjective: circle any adjective you have written and ask yourself: "What do I mean by this word?" Then replace the adjective with your answer... The more specific the details about what you're describing, the sharper your reader's focus.
Proofread out loud
Ask yourself these general questions about what you've written: Is it clear? Is it focused? Is it efficient? Is it concise? Is it complete? Is it positive? Is it accurate? Is it correct? (Are these questions important for my piece of art?)
Know when to quit: it is possible to overwrite. Do the best you can in the time you have available. Then let it go.
How to edit others: read, examine (Is it architecturally sound? Does it flow? Is it mechanically sound? Does the lead lead? Is the writing generally sound?), listen:
What did you learn from this piece of writing?
Do you have any plans for a next draft?
Was there anything about your writing that surprised you?
Based on this piece or writing, where do you think you are heading as a writer?
What do you like about what you've written?
Do you have any questions you'd like to ask me?
Here are some of the ways an editor can help a writer:
Confer. Decide together what you want and don't want. Give reasons.
Listen. Don't judge in advance what the writer should produce.- Open your mind and be willing to admit you might learn something.
Support. Not with phony pats on the back but with genuine compliments and useful criticism.
Challenge. Encourage unconventional techniques, question the writer's assumptions, offer a different view, and make suggestions without insisting they be used.
Remember. Psychologically bad editing is fare more damaging than technically bad editing. An editing mistake can be forgotten in a week; a mistake in how you treat the writer can be remembered for a lifetime.
Here are some of the ways a writer can help an editor:
Confer. Ask for advice, tell the editor why you did what you did, be open to suggestions, be willing to take criticism, talk before writing if you can, and keep a flow of ideas going. Don't just wait for the editor's ideas.
Listen. Don't resist reasonable suggestions; you don't know it all yet. On the other hand, don't bend when the bending isn't justified. Sometimes editors need to be told when a change shouldn't be made.
Support. Editors need all the help they can get. Meet your deadlines proofread your work, don't take criticism personally, use your dictionary every once in a while, be thorough and accurate about your facts, and try to understand that editors have schedules too.
Challenge. Editors need feedback. Question their preconceived notions about what constitutes good writing, but do it gently. Believe it or not, editors are even more insecure than writers.
Remember. Editors are people too. Try not to always refer to them as "butchers." They need to be stroked just as much as writers.
Style
Your style is the way you say and do things. It's what makes you who you are, what separates you from everyone else, what identifies you as you...
There's a big difference between writing "correctly" and writing well. Rules are effective only insofar as they help us make our messages clear. They are only a means, not an end.
There are three kinds of attitudes that should be avoided:
1. The Pompous. Pomposity is the unwillingness to communicate in a simple, straightforward way. It is the language of computers, bureaucrats, and functionaries, not people. George Orwell translated a quotation from Ecclesiastes into pompous language:
Ecclesiastes: I returned and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
Orwell: Objective consideration of contemporary phenomena compels the conclusion that success or failure in competitive activities exhibits no tendency to be commensurate with innate capacity, but that a considerable element of the unpredictable must invariably be taken into account.
2. The Highbrow. Highbrow writers want to show off. They want us all to be aware of what we don't know - out to impress rather than express.
3. The Flippant. The flippant writer offends by not taking seriously a subject the reader may feel is important.
The attitude we have toward our subjects and readers determine our style. And we have as many styles as we do attitudes. The trick is to adapt these attitudes to the needs and sensibilities of our reader. The way to do this is through respect: respect for our subjects and respect for our readers. Style can be seen as an answer to the question "What works best?".
Paragraphs:
Paragraphs are like rest areas. Without them our eyes and brains would tire quickly. We know that we've come to the end of a group of statements and can rest a moment before going on to the next. The length of a paragraph should be as long or as short as their subjects require. The three basic principles of a paragraph are:
1. Unity (basically one idea to each paragraph; the opening sentence announces the subject of the paragraph and the attitude we want our readers to have toward it (an opening question has the advantage that the reader is immediately participating in my subject). The rest of the sentences in the paragraph explain, elaborate, give examples, or make analyses that support the opening sentence. The closing sentence draws all we've said about the main idea to a conclusion that leads the reader to the next paragraph. (The best ending usually take the reader a bit by surprise. William Butler Yeats said that a finished poem makes a noise like the click of a lid on a perfectly made box.)),
2. Coherence (leading the reader from one point to the next, creating a whole unit of thought or feeling; ),
3. Emphasis (putting the most important information at the beginning and end of each paragraph create our strongest rhetorical punches.).
Sentences:
The things we want to look at are
1. Clarity: If our ides aren't understandable, they will be of no use to anyone.
2. Coherence: is the clear and logical movement from one word to the next
3. Variety: Too many sentences of the same sort will put readers to sleep. Ask a question; then exclaim something. An occasional one-word sentence can shock or excite. Vary the traditional subject, verb, object way of structuring sentences. You may even wish to break a few rules - if it works, it's right.
Phrases:
Phrases are small groups of words that work together to give more meaning to a sentence.... Focusing on the specific and replacing vague phrases with pronouns can be used to eliminate buzz words or jargon.
"Irresponsible" language (often a language of nonresponsibility):
Euphemism. We use euphemisms when we want to hide something. When someone dies, we try to avoid the pain by saying that the person has "passed away". (Orwell: Be suspicious of words that don't bring a picture to mind, i.e. "pacification" does not create an image of bound, blindfolded, kneeling prisoners with pistols held to their heads...)
Doubletalk. It avoids an issue by talking around it
Gobbledygook. The point of gobbledygook is to overwhelm the reader with nonsense. Example: welfare recipients in England are told "Within the housing benefit granted to you there has been an amount of transitional addition; this was granted to compensate for higher non-dependent charges."
Neologisms. => New words
Bafflegab. Bafflegab is what we resort to when nothing else works. Bafflegab combines elements of all the other techniques...
Sexist Language: Here are some suggestions the Canadian government has come up with for at least making people believe we no longer hold our old prejudices
Instead of:Write:
Use parallel language
men and ladiesmen and women; gentlemen and ladies
man and wifeman and woman; husband and wife
Roger Giroux and JaneRoger Giroux and Jane Ward
Use Terms that include both sexes
mankindpeople
all menall people
chairmanchairperson; chair; head
mannedstaffed
average manaverage person
policemanpolice officer
firemanfirefighter
newsmanreporter; Journalist
male nursenurse
lady doctordoctor
Use plural forms
Each chairman must meet with his staff.
Chairpersons must meet with their staffs.
Use "the,", "a,", or "an"
Each chairman must submit his report of the meeting
Each chair must submit a report of the meeting.
Use "you"
Every chairman wants to prove himself.
As head of the department, you want to prove yourself.
Words:
Seize the subject and words will follow.
Cato the Elder
Write the way you sound. Guidelines for increasing the impact of words:
Use short words (easier to read, and we understand them quickly)
Use clear words (words that are easy to pronounce and everyone can understand. Long and unfamiliar words slow readers down, and readers who slow down often stop.)
Use concrete words (words that mean something, words for which there are no synonyms... search for words the readers can feel, e.g. "slums" creates a more vivid image in our readers mind than "inner-city housing".)
Avoid unnecessary words.
Write in the active voice (active words move our readers along; passive words slow them down: The street was crossed by the chicken/The chicken crossed the street. Active voice is: more emphatic, more personal, more responsible. But: Passive voice focuses the reader's attention away from whoever is doing the action; it can soften blows; it relinquishes responsibility.)
Use words that act (by freeing them from the "-ion", "-tion," or "-ance" that weights them down. => "The purpose of this magazine is the collection and distribution of news stories" = "This magazine collects and distributes the news."
Use positive words (unless, of course, you really want to make someone feel bad - but most of the time negative language merely invites a negative response). Compare [allege, claim, complain, criticise, error, fail, neglect...] to [admire, agree, benefit, comfort, deserve, pleasure...].
Use personal words (for example personal pronouns instead of the impersonal "one"...; contractions)
Be consistent (in tense, pronouns, ...)
Avoid "Headline" words/clichés - and use a dictionary.
Mechanics
Here the author talks about punctuation (comma, colon, semicolon, apostrophe, hyphen, dash), syntax (subject-verb agreement, noun and pronoun agreement, misplaced modifiers) and their effects on the text/reader.
Four steps to eliminate mechanical errors: Write the way you talk, proofread out loud, ask someone else to proofread you work, ask yourself: does it work?
The rest of the book is concerned with Business Writing...