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For as long as I’ve been writing books, I’ve been in a constant battle with the design of word processing software.Just the phrase “word processor” itself is soul-sucking. But the real problem lies in the common interface conventions almost all word processors share, locked in a framework that took shape in the early days of computing, when software was almost exclusively oriented around the business market. These tools are undoubtably well-engineered for producing an inter-office memo, or a short business plan that follows a conventional structure. But they are almost comically unsuited for long, complex, and structurally open-ended documents like non-fiction books or novels. To understand why, you need to consider the entire the life cycle of a book, from the early ideas to the completed project....
In my experience, a big challenge for writers is the inappropriate edit. You know, the guy who corrects spelling errors in your outline, or wants to rearrange the whole thing during the proofreading stage. In fact, only 32% of business writers say that their process for collecting and combining feedback works well. I’ve written before about the five levels of editing, with posts on each type. But if your reviewers still don’t get it, lay this infographic on them. Then tell them what you’re looking for, and when you need the feedback. It will increase your chances of getting the comments that you need, rather than the ones that drive you crazy....
Writing of any sort is hard, but rewarding work – you’ll gain a huge amount of satisfaction from a finished piece. Being creative can also be difficult and challenging at times, but immensely fun. How to get started Many people think that just because they’ve read a lot of stories (or even if they haven’t!) they should be able to write one. But as Nigel Watts writes: There is a common belief that because most of us are literate and fluent, there is no need to serve an apprenticeship if we want to become a successful wordsmith. … That’s what I thought until I tried to write my first novel. I soon learnt that a novel, like a piece of furniture, has its own set of requirements, laws of construction that have to be learnt. Just because I had read plenty of novels didn’t mean I could write one, any more than I could make a chair because I had sat on enough of them.(Nigel Watts, Teach Yourself Writing a Novel)...
"The great writer's gift to a reader is to make him a better writer." “Stories,” Neil Gaiman asserted in his wonderful lecture on what makes stories last, “are genuinely symbiotic organisms that we live with, that allow human beings to advance.” But what is the natural selection of these organisms — what makes the ones that endure fit for survival? What, in other words, makes a great story?
Via Mary Daniels Brown
While the majority of our readers are likely beyond college age, it’s still fun to wistfully remember your experimental undergraduate years—or whatever they were. That’s why I’ve written a list of the 10 best colleges for creative writers, based on my own highly idiosyncratic metrics: accomplished professors, famous alumni, environments conducive to writing, bizarre course selections, and, best of all, any random facts that might add to the writerly collegiate experience.
... Businesses are now feeling the pressure to start blogs and fill them with good, useful content on a regular basis.
Websites need effective copy. Email campaigns need to be written strategically. And then, of course, there are tweets, Facebook messages and LinkedIn posts.
This is overwhelming for a lot of businesses. And many are not equipped with the marketing staff to handle the need.
This creates incredible opportunities for savvy writers to shine.And, there are plenty of businesses that would love to work with writers directly.
So, how do you get noticed by businesses that would love to pay for your writing? Here are seven tips to help you get started:...
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We invited eight female literary powerhouses, from Michiko Kakutani to Anna Holmes to Roxane Gay, to help us create an updated list of books everyone should read. Each participant made 10 picks. It's a new year, a new Esquire.com. We're looking forward to reading and we hope you are, too.
For beginning freelancers, figuring out the right rate to ask for can be almost as difficult as landing the gig itself. Who Pays Writers is an anonymous, crowdsourced open data that lets writers report their rates from various publications for print and Web. Though it has been around since 2012, this week the site received a redesign to let you easily search and report your rates.
You can sift through the site for publications you’re thinking about pitching (or are simply curious about) or search by name. If there’s data for said publication, you’ll see a per word rate or a flat rate fee, along with the year submitted, a small description of what the piece was, and whether the writer had a relationship with the assigning editor going into the job....
As I watched holiday re-runs of the Lord of the Rings movies, I wondered if there might be a term for the way Gollum adds syllables to words. Note: Gollum is a fictional character in The Hobbit and its sequels by J. R. R. Tolkien. In Peter Jackson’s movies, Gollum is played brilliantly by Andy Serkis. Gollum frequently adds a sound or syllable to words, especially plurals. For example: Sneaky little hobbitses....
So a portmanteau is formed from two french words, "porter" which meanscarry and "manteau" which means mantle – a mantle is a cloak, the kind Anna wore in Frozen, or if you are a more traditionalist fairy tale lover, what Red Riding Hood wore en route to grandma’s house (to be honest, I’ve always thought it was a cape but I digress). A manteau is more of a clothes valet, which is exactly what it sounds like.
Put them together and you use portmanteau to refer to travelling bags or suitcases (because they carry your cloaks around?) only these bags are old-fashioned, made from leather and can open into compartments. Here are some examples....
You’ve just spent a year, two years, five, writing your book. Now you’re releasing it out into the world, and you just want everyone to read it. But getting attention for your book amid the great deluge of content can be hard. Perhaps your agent, editor, or publicist has told you that you need a website, but you’re hard-pressed to know what to do with it. You don’t know what to write on a regular basis or how to maintain it technically or attract a readership.
What you do know is that you need to be where readers are: a space that’s beautiful and easy in which to publish, requires no maintenance, and provides immediate distribution.That’s where Medium—a place where thinkers, experts, and writers of all stripes have come to express themselves—can help. Here are a few ideas:...
"A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without putting a word on paper."
Kurt Vonnegut’s recently published daily routine made we wonder how other beloved writers organized their days. So I pored through various old diaries and interviews — many from the fantastic Paris Review archives — and culled a handful of writing routines from some of my favorite authors. Enjoy.... (photo of Joan Didion)
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Why Writing Books Is More Than Processing Words. We’ve been writing with word processors for 40 years. What if we’ve been doing it wrong all this time? Thoughtful reading! 9/10