Angela Booth's Writing Blog

The Truth, News At Nine: remember Inverted Pyramid Style

Before the daily news became a form of entertainment, news stories were written in Inverted Pyramid style. That is, the essence of the story appeared up front, as the base of the pyramid. "Frederick Thomas Smith, 48, was arrested today for burning down his auto supply business at ---"

Each subsequent paragraph expanded on the story. You could chop off the story anywhere, and still have the story make sense.

Remembering Inverted Pyramid style is useful when we want to write ANYTHING. This doesn't mean that your article, press release, advertisement or short story will read like a news item – it means that when you remember the base of the pyramid, the SEED of the story, you won't inadvertently leave anything out.

When I write an ad for laundry detergent, for example, I write the USP (Unique Selling Point) on a sticky note and paste it onto my monitor: environment friendly, uses citrus oils…

Try it. Write the story-seed on a sticky note and refer to it as you write. It keeps you on track.

Technorati Tags: practice your writing

The courage to write... rubbish: using two modes

Some days everything I write sounds to me as if a particularly dim monkey typed it. That's fine. At least I wrote something. The page is no longer blank.

Everything you write can be improved, even if you improve it by tossing it in the trash or using the Delete key.

If you're not writing, or not writing as much as you'd like to, it's often because you want to write WELL. This isn't a good idea because you're trying to write in two modes at once, your creative mode, and your editing mode.

Try to divide your writing time into two distinct phases: creative and critical. Think of it as if you were building a house. First you collect all the materials: the wood, the bricks, the cement... then you put all the materials together.

Separate the two modes -- give yourself time off. When you're in critical (editing) mode, you want to approach the material as objectively as you can. When you're in creative mode, be satisfied with whatever you get. If you're writing fiction, what you get in creative mode may not make much sense. It doesn't have to, it's raw material. You can build your story or novel when you're in critcal mode.

When you're writing nonfiction, creative mode is when you think on paper. Again, it's just raw material. You're in creative mode, so be creative. You can be critical when you're putting it all together.

Have the courage to write rubbish. In creative mode you WILL write a lot of rubbish -- it's necessary.

So if you're determined to write WELL whenever you write, get over yourself. Give yourself permission to write rubbish. It's raw material. Build your story LATER.

Pick a mode, and WRITE. You may astonish yourself. :-)

Technorati Tags: practice your writing

Dilbert'c creator shows you how not to get writer's block

You don't have writer's block.

You just think you do. Scott Adams says:

I can’t get past the common sense that I always have writer’s block up until the moment I have an idea. It’s sort of a binary situation.

Just write. Anything. You can fix it later.

Technorati Tags: writing

Today's Writing Tip: Improvising your way through writer's block

Improvs are a sure cure for writer's block. (Scroll down for more on improvs.)

If you're blocked, spend 21 days writing a short (no longer than 200 words) improv each day.

You'll feel ready and raring to write long before the three weeks is up, however the key to this process is to keep it going for at least 21 days.

The idea of the 21 days is that you're developing the habit of sitting down and writing to order. You're training your unconscious mind that when you say "write" to yourself it sends up the words immediately. :-)

Technorati Tags: creativity, fiction

Fiction: Using your improvs (scroll down for more on improvs)

Improvs are warm-ups for your mind. I write them by hand and then recycle the paper; I rarely keep them.

However, some writers do keep them and read them whenever they hit a dry patch. If you keep yours, you'll find an occasional nuggets buried in your improvs.

One writer friend told me that she first met the hero and heroine in her current novel in an improv.

If you intend to keep yours, don't forget to put the date on them so you'll know when they were written.

Apropos of improvs, I use pen and paper. I seem to be closer to my Inner Librarian when I'm using a fountain pen with purple, green, or sea green ink. If you use the computer for your first few improvs, try a pen. Or your PDA. You could also try writing in a different place. :-)

Technorati Tags: fiction

Fiction: The easy way to let your subconscious help you to write your novel

Improvs will help you to get started on a novel. You don’t need a plot, characters or setting.

Here's how:

*** First thing in the morning, for seven days, sit down and write an improv. Spend ten minutes on this, no longer. You can choose any three words which spring to mind to get you started, or you can make random choices by opening a dictionary and putting your fingertip on the page, and using the words you land on.

***Leave the material for at least a week, two weeks if possible. At the end of that time, read the material through, and choose one section to use as the beginning of your novel.

This is a fascinating process. Try it. :-)

Re improvs. An improv is a fun writing exercise. I like to choose three words at random, either nouns, adjectives or verbs, and use them as a kickoff for a free-write of around 100 to 200 words.

Here's an improv:

Write 100 words using these three words: Possess, Luck, Bitter.

Choose three words from that, then write another 100 words including those three words.

Keep going, if you like, and pick another three words from your improv.

Technorati Tags: fiction

Use images to inspire your writing

Your right brain thinks in images, and when you write, you translate images from your right brain into words. Usually this process happens so quickly that you're unaware of it. If you can make this process conscious, you can goose up your creativity. Stephen King calls this process "writing with the third eye --- the eye of imagination and memory."

When you learn to access your image banks consciously, you'll find that if you write fiction, you'll be showing, rather than telling. You'll be able to make your readers see and feel your scenes. If your writing is flat and uninspired, "imaging" is an instant cure.

If you write nonfiction, you'll be writing holistically, moving from the whole to the parts and back again, effortlessly.

Try it. Here's a selection of images.

Choose one. Free write 200 words.

Technorati Tags: practice your writing

Write, write, write -- use your imagination

How do you become a better writer? By writing. It's the only way. I don't care who you are, or how truly crappy your writing is, if you'll allow yourself to write every day, your writing will improve every day.

If you don't like writing, and find it too hard to write every day, you need to rethink your approach. Some writers have a drive to write, but they're scared. Consider therapy. It can help.

Maybe you're just lazy. If that's the case, make a commitment to writing. Set a goal. Tell yourself that you will meet your goal, or give up all aspirations to write. You need to be disciplined.

On days when it's hard to write, IMAGINE yourself writing. Ignore every thought you have, and just picture yourself writing, sitting at the computer, or with a notebook on your knees in the garden, or talking into your digital notetaker... your imagination is much stronger than your will, so use it. :-)

Technorati Tags: writing

NanoWriMo: Prepare for the big day

Want to get off to a fast NanoWriMo start on November 1?

You may not want to prepare at all, if so that’s great, because you can save all your enthusiasm for the big day. OTOH, if you think you’ll feel more comfortable, you can prepare a little.

The NanoWriMo rules say:


Outlines and plot notes are very much encouraged, and can be started months ahead of the actual novel-writing adventure. Previously written prose, though, is punishable by death.

Prepare by:

* Writing beginnings. Write 500 words a day with which your novel could start. You won’t use any of these words. What you’re aiming for is a tone, a feeling, for your novel;

* Write character sketches;

* Draw a map of the location of your novel;

* Write scene notes. Picture a scene in your mind, and describe it. Remember: Who, What, Why, When, Where and How;

* Motivate yourself by writing about how you’ll feel when you complete the month successfully. How will you have changed?

Technorati Tags: fiction, practice your writing

Writing is craft and skills you can learn

I received an email from a writer asking me to critique his work and asking whether he had talent. He didn't want to write if he didn't have talent.

Talent is great, but it can also destroy you if you think that all you need is talent and the world will beat a path to your door. The willingness to learn and write is much more important than talent. Writing is a craft, like knitting or painting or pottery.

Because it is a craft, it means there are techniques and methods. You can and must learn the techniques. All you have to do is read and think like a writer, and store your ideas like a squirrel storing nuts for the winter. And practice, practice, practice. :-)

How do you "think like a writer?" You ask yourself what the writer wanted to do with a piece of writing, or how the writer wanted you to feel. What techniques can you find in the writing? How could you use those techniques in what you're working on right now?

Ask yourself--- what's the technique? How do you do that? It's useful to read an ad, an article, a novel or a book straight through first, then reread and study to dissect it for the craft it can teach you.

You write by writing and reading. Write. Read. Rinse, lather and repeat.

Technorati Tags: practice your writing

Eliminating writer’s block: hints and tips

I know how painful blocks can be, I’ve suffered through them too. I’ve just written an email to a blocked novelist containing hints and tips to kill the block. Here they are:

* Write something, anything. If you can speak, you can write. Movement is the key -- you have to keep moving. Start a blog. Write an article a day for a month. (You can do it, and this is the best way of breaking a block I’ve found: an article a day of at least 600 words, and you MUST send those articles out to an editor, or post them on your Web site.)

* Use lists. I start ALL my writing with lists. A list helps you to keep moving. If you’re writing a scene, write a list: Day, Place, Goal, Conflict, Character, Symbol -- your list can be anything at all. Scrawl it onto a sticky note and paste it onto your monitor, or list right within the document. If I’m writing copy, I write a list of the product’s benefits.

* Write somewhere else. Go to a coffee shop, or the library, and sit and write for half an hour or a couple of hours.

* Sit. Sit in your office chair, or wherever you write, open a document, and write, or don’t write, but sit. You can’t play Solitaire, MineSweeper, read your email or surf the Web. Sit, for at least an hour.

* (This one is HARD.) Give up all expectations for what you’re writing. Tell yourself you don’t care what the end product is like, or whether it’s publishable or not. Your only goal is to produce. If you tell yourself this often enough, you will believe it, sooner or later. If you’re into meditation, you know that this is simply a form of mindfulness, staying in the present moment.

* Decide that you won’t write for a month. If you’re under contract, this may not be possible, but if you’re not under contract, this decision will take pressure off you. It’s weird, but if you decide NOT to write, I guarantee you that by day four, you’ll want to write. :-)

Good luck. I hope these tips help. They may not. Sometimes a block has to do with something else that’s happening in our life, and the block won’t go away until that situation is resolved. If that’s the case, forget about writing for a while, and live your life. Sooner or later your writing will become irresistible to you again.

Technorati Tags: Motivation

Three weeks to NaNoWriMo

Only three weeks to NaNoWriMo! Good luck to you if you're participating. I won't be joining in this year; I've still got 35K words of last year's effort to whip into shape.

If you've haven't tried NaNoWriMo and you're procrastinating on your writing, join in. If nothing else, you'll do a lot of writing and the group energy will boost your motivation.

Great fun. :-)

Technorati Tags: fiction, write novel

Mac Egg Timer Widget: time your scrambled tofu and free writes

All writing benefits from warm-ups. I free-write on every project because it saves time in the long run -- see my post on LSD. The Egg Timer widget lets me time my free writes simply and easily. It's very cute, and stays out of your way on the Dashboard.

You can also use Egg Timer to conquer procrastination, as "Kick procrastination's ass: Run a dash" suggests.

If you're a Windows person I know there's a freeware app called FM Egg Timer. I haven't used it, but it should do much the same thing.

Beyond the first draft

How do you revise? Do you:

* Check for typos and clumsy phrasing

* Rewrite completely

* Think that this is as good as it gets and leave well enough alone

* What first draft? My first draft is IT, Jack

Carol Bly's Beyond the Writer's Workshop has the best advice for revision I've ever read. She calls revision the "long middle" stage of writing and says that it's an unacknowledged part of the writing process, and I agree. She suggests a technique called Empathic Questioning that helps you to deepen your work during the long middle stage.

She also suggests that both writer's block and the inner critic are simply ways we've internalized criticism (our own as well as others') and shows you how to eliminate both for good.

This book is a treasure; packed with intelligent advice that helps you to make the most of your creative process. If you're ready to explore the long middle, you'll love it.

Technorati Tags: Motivation

Next issue of YEW: Word fun

I'll be posting the next issue of Your EveryDay Write shortly. If you're new to YEW visit the site to subscribe -- it's free.

Note: unless you're a member of Pro Write, you won't have access to the archives. For the free Yahoo subs, it's a one-time mailing only, on the 30th of each month.

Here's a sample of the writing prompts and tips in YEW:

<<< Writing Prompt>>>

You're writing an Agatha Christie-style mystery. You want to create a female character as your amateur detective.

Write down these three words: Gift, Sleep, Premonition.

You can write the words as a list, or cluster them.

See more on clustering here

Now write 50 more words, as quickly as you can, without thinking too much about it. I usually write the words all over a blank sheet of paper, using different colours and doodling on the page to help me to get into a relaxed, day-dreaming state.

Is your novel's character starting to come into focus? Write 100 words describing your amateur detective.


<<< Writing Tip >>>

==> Word associations maximize your brain-power <==

When a piece of writing seems boring, consider using word associations to spark it up. When you select words and write a list of associations, you're maximizing your brain power.

Want to give this a try?

Pick a file on your computer – this can be a letter, an email message, a story, an article --- anything.

Choose any three words you've used in the document, and copy them to the end of the file. Now free-associate. I like to do this on paper, but it's up to you how you do it. Write 50 to 100 words of associations.

Sometime before you get to the end of this process, you'll get an urge to write. Obey the urge.

Write at least 100 words of your inspiration. Note: your inspiration may seem unrelated to the themes that you were exploring in your word associations. That's fine --- it's part of the magic of this process. When you've finished writing your inspiration --- which may be as short as a couple of sentences or several pages long --- copy this into the original document.

The results will amaze you. :-)