Writing Advice

One of my readers (LL) asked me for writing advice, so I'm going to write about writing.

The answer to "how to be a writer" depends on what kind of writing you want to do. Is it fiction or non-fiction? Is it a blog or a book?  Et cetera.

Here are some answers, in no particular order of importance:

Google has writing tips. Grammarly has writing tips. And so on. I've never read anyone's writing tips, I just sit down and start typing. I suppose it helps that I've always been a voracious reader and have a fairly large vocabulary. I also use an online thesaurus when I know there's a better word but I can't quite think of that word. A thesaurus is a great tool. I bought my first paperback thesaursus when I was a teenager and parked it beside my parents' old Woodstock typewriter. Yes, I was writing fiction that early. Poetry, too.

I try to throw in a lot of adjectives. I want to create a scene in the reader's mind.

In blogs, I normally write using the first person point of view (using the pronoun 'I') but sometimes, especially in fiction (fiction can exist in a blog, too) I might take a step back and write in the third person ("he" or "she"), viewing myself from outside myself, as an observer. This is easy to overdo, especially if the identity of the observer isn't extremely clear to the reader.

When I was younger, I felt that it was important to get all the details of a true story exactly right. But today, I think it's okay to "embellish" a story a little bit if it makes the story more fun for the reader, assuming that the purpose of your writing is to entertain. (Don't embellish or distort facts if you're writing a book about using power tools.) However, just because I think it's okay to sometimes embellish the truth doesn't mean that I do it in my writing. I think you risk losing the readers' confidence in you. If it's supposed to be a true story, keep it factual. If you're spinning an anecdote about something stupid you did years ago, you might embellish a little bit if it makes the story more entertaining, but don't spin outright lies. If you want to do that, then write the story as fiction using a fictional protagonist. These stories are usually written in the third person.

In blogging, I think it's nice to add images to your post. It makes the blog more visually appealing. I don't use enough images. But take care not to overdo it. You want to let the reader create the scene in her own mind. You'll recall that novels can be great at describing scenes and events without having photos on their pages.

Another thing: before you publish your writing to the Internet (assuming that's your intent), proofread. Then proofread some more. Publish your blog post and then proofread it again. You'll be surprised at how often you find a mistake or something you can phrase better.

Surprises are nice, too, if you can fit one in. For example, my lady friend, Nuria, left me this morning. She just walked through the front door and left me. Surprise! And while I was still in bed! She did leave a note for me:

"Good morning Amor"—is that any way to talk to someone you love? I just don't understand women. I mean, I don't understand. And who is this "Amor" person she's seeing?

'Til next time.