✎ on writing on writing
When I dress for an interview, I want to look a little better than my usual self. In the same way, I want my essay to sound like me, and a little better.
Personal essay writing tips from Roy Peter Clark, 'America's writing coach'
on voice and how you want your (writing) voice to sound a little better than your (actual) voice / self
Circle every adjective and adverb in three pages of your manuscript. Challenge yourself to replace them with specific, concrete details—nouns and verbs —that show rather than tell. Instead of “she was angry,” show her “knuckles whitening around the steering wheel.”
Allison K Williams • Worth the Climb: Self-Editing Secrets That Actually Work
Once, in an early research seminar, a classmate asked how you knew when you were done researching. The professor said “when all the sources start saying the same thing.”
Anne Helen Petersen • Gentlemen of the Woods
Instead of establishing your authority on a topic by infodumping, use your character to establish authority through the way they think and speak. For example, if your character is a bird expert, they may describe objects and people using language and phrasing normally reserved for birds.
Can Writing Be Dangerous? (Spoiler: It Already Is)
Horizontal and Vertical: Horizontal is the events of the story as they take place (in chronological order). Vertical is the memories and feelings the events evoke, or as Chuck puts it, the “increase in physical, emotional, and physiological tension.” So, when a significant event takes place in the novel, how can you branch out from that event like... See more
Erin Karbuczky • Can Writing Be Dangerous? (Spoiler: It Already Is)
or, how to navigate space-time (as in, tell a story linearly + travel back and forth [mostly back] in time about what the present brings and vice-versa)
converting similes to metaphors when possible—saying something is something else is more powerful than saying it’s like something else.
Allison K Williams • Worth the Climb: Self-Editing Secrets That Actually Work
Tootzi instilled a philosophy of “all that exists is the artifact that’s on the table.” It doesn’t matter if your ideas come from your mind, your heart, your soul, your belly button, the tops of mountains, a bottle of red wine, or from managing an in-house spider colony (this was Salvidore Dali’s process). No matter how you arrive, conscious or... See more
Michael Dean • The Secret Architecture of Great Essays
“At a certain point, you need to take responsibility for being understood.” like an architect can’t stand outside their building handing out pamphlets explaining it, a writer can’t explain the background of their words. first draft for you, second draft for stranger.
What is 'Memoir Plus' and why is it so hot right now? — Nour Sallam - Literary Agent
Nour Sallamnoursallam.com