Three Words of Advice

I just finished editing another book and there are three things that stand out. Do these and your writing will be better.

1. Use fewer words. Most writing is loaded with redundancies. Chop it out.

2. Write shorter sentences. Even when you have cut your word count, prefer two or three short sentences to one long, convoluted sentence. As much as you admire the apostle Paul, don't try to write like him.

3. Take it easy on exclamation points! If you use too many of them, they lose their meaning when you really need to use them!!!!!!

More From Twain

"Anybody can have ideas—the difficulty is to express them without squandering a quire of paper on an idea that ought to be reduced to one glittering paragraph. 
I never write 'metropolis' for seven cents when I can write 'city' and get paid the same. 
As to the adjective, when in doubt, strike it out." 
—Mark Twain

Short Speech

"Let thy speech be short, comprehending much in a few words." —The 
Apocrypha

Though the 
Apocrypha is not inspired, it does carry some good advice.

Hard Writing

Hard writing makes easy reading. 
—adage

Writing isn't easy for most of us, including me. But our effort is well worth it for the reader—and for your opportunity to sell manuscripts.

Jefferson on Brevity

"The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do."

—
Thomas Jefferson

A historical source weighs in on the necessity to write tight.

Write Every Day

If you are serious about being a writer, write something every day ... no exceptions. By this I do not mean a blog or something you're unlikely to use. Write something for publication. It doesn't need to be perfect, but it does need to be viable. make progress every day as a writer.

I have dozens of columns and several articles in various stages of completion that are not yet scheduled. Write daily, and keep what you write. Add to your pieces or revise them occasionally. Some day they may see publication.

Throw That Controversial Line Away

Many authors of otherwise good articles risk losing their audience when they are tempted to use their platform to make a controversial point not necessary or helpful for the article.

Ask yourself, Is this really worth it? 

Is it worth it to lose readers just to feel good about making your point? The answer is no.

Lose that controversial line if it's not needed for the article. Your goal is for people to read your article, not for you to feel self-satisfied. You can make your point in another venue.

Practice Sampling

I do what I call "sampling" on a regular basis. This can be done any time for a brief period of time, and it is profitable to you.

Look through a book or Web site you are interested in, or some notes you have taken, and find a good illustration or bit of information. Then write it out in your own words, in a form you can plug into an appropriate piece later.

Be sure to keep track of these. It keeps you writing, even when you don't have a lot of time, and provides you a ready source to augment future articles. I do this a lot!

Pulitzer's Words of Wisdom on Writing

"Put it before them briefly so they will read it, clearly so they will appreciate it, picturesquely so they will remember it, and above all, accurately so they will be guided by its light."

—Joseph Pulitzer

Perhaps the best short synopsis of how to write, from someone who should know. Though this was written years ago, the advice in this quote is still relevant. Take Pulitzer's advice and you will be ahead of the game in writing style.

Read Your Writing

Before sending off an article or chapter—and even before mentally stamping "ready" on your work—read it over and over and over again. Always take notes or make changes as you read. Try to improve it each time.

There is a point at which you have read it enough and you need to let go. But many writers err in the other direction, by not giving their work sufficient careful reading.

And be sure to read your article in its entirety. Computers and word processing have made it really easy to make changes. Sometimes writers don't consider how an inserted sentence or changed word can affect the whole of the document.

Write to Be Understood

Don't write to impress your readers. Write so they will understand you. If you communicate well, you will impress them.

Good content clearly presented is always more impressive than language that is flowery but unclear.

Avoid long sentences.

Avoid long, involved sentences. It may have worked for the apostle Paul, but your writing is not quite on that level. Fifteen words or less is a good target, though definitely not a hard, fast rule. The point is not that you should count the words in your sentences, but that you should be economical in using them, clear and to the point. You don't want your readers wandering in a maze of confusing clauses.

Writing is different from preaching.

One of the main reasons articles are turned down for religious publications is they are too "preachy." Good preachers are not frequently also good writers. The reason? The two mediums are very different. They are different in several ways. I'll share one obvious one here.

This is an oversimplification but it will help you get the picture. In writing, you cut, cut, cut; you can never cut enough. In preaching, you add, add, add; you can never add enough—even after the sermon begins. At least this is how sermons used to be and how they are still in many traditional churches. You can't afford extra words in writing. You don't have a captive audience. Draw them in, get to the point, and give them a great conclusion.

And don't write it like you'd preach it.

Use a fresh approach.

Most of the stories in the Bible have been told in writing innumerable times. That doesn't mean you shouldn't tell them again. It does means you'll have to get creative. If you’re writing on one of the parables of Jesus or about the walls of Jericho, you need to write with fresh insight or a novel approach. Tell it in such a way that it will stand out.

Make timely submissions.

Timely submissions of magazine articles are crucial. September is too late to submit an article to be considered for Christmas. Seasonal articles should be submitted at least 9 months in advance. January or February would be even better for a Christmas article.

Be familiar with periodicals you submit articles to.

If you submit an article to a periodical, understand the periodical and its audience. Do your homework and familiarize yourself with any periodical you submit to. Editors hate it when you submit articles that don't fit their publications. Don't waste their time ... or yours.

Never lose a good thought.

Unfortunately, good thoughts usually come when it's diffcult to write them down. I get them frequently while jogging. Ideas are the writer's gold; never forget them. This means writing them down asap! If they're probably not that good, write them down anyway. I have gone back to ideas that sounded great when I first had them and jettisoned them. They didn't stand the test of time. On the other hand, some ideas which seemed marginal at best when I had them turned into winners.

Never lose a potentially good thought. Sometimes whole paragraphs come to me at inopportune moments—like while running or taking a shower. I use mnemonic devices (vivid memory techniques) to remember as much as possible, then get everything down as soon as I can.

Don’t short-circuit creativity.

Once, while writing, I looked up a word I was unsure of. It would have added a special ring to the opening sentence of a paragraph I had in mind ... if I was correct about the meaning. It was difficult to find the metaphoric meaning I had in mind, but I persisted and eventually I satisfied myself with the usage. Armed with the authorization to use my cool-sounding word, as I put pen to paper (I still write that way sometimes), I realized I had forgotten the sentence I intended to use it in. Not only that, the whole paragraph had disappeared from memory.

Don’t short-circuit creativity. What I should have done was written the paragraph with the word, then looked it up later.

When ideas are flowing, it is more important to harness that ephemeral creativity than to be precise in every detail. Rewriting and editing can be done any time. But ideas have a way of flying away.

Short Sentences

“Write short sentences, verbs close to the front.” —C.M. Ward

New writers frequently submit articles with long, involved sentences. Even if the sentences are grammatically correct, most of the time that's a no-no. Short, forceful sentences pack more punch, aid comprehension, and keep people reading.

Say something worthwhile.

"Blessed is the man who, having nothing to say, abstains from giving us wordy evidence of the fact." —George Eliot

Indispensable to writing right is to have something to say. There are two types of poor writing: poor style, good content; good style, poor content. Another way to say it is: great writing that doesn’t say anything; a great story that is not told well. Of the two, it is better to have poor writing style and have something worth saying than to say nothing well. Editors are not essentially looking for good writing, but good content, well written. But they can fix poor writing if there is a valuable message. Be sure your writing says something. If it doesn't, flowery language can't fix it and it should be dumped.