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Author: Charles O. Goulet
Good writing requires self-examination. Why is one writing? What part
of the writer will be shared with readers? Will it be only information
or will it include the essence of the writer? This, then determines
what will be written: poetry, essays, articles, short stories, novels,
or any other genre of writing.
A writer's work must share part of his or her being, or it is merely
reporting. And when the soul or spirit of the writer is included, it
requires a depth of self-examination; it requires searching the psyche
for what is important and even relevant to the writer and thus, to the
reader. This is egoism, not egotism; the first is self-assurance, the
second is vainglory.
Athough writing for financial gain is important, it should never be
the sole reason for writing, as that will not bring out the best in
the writer. Passion of expression, a need to communicate, a desire to
share a part of the person-ideas, feelings, passions-and love are the
bases for exemplary and ageless writing.
Writing must fulfill a heartfelt need for self-expression, ego
fulfillment, or a therapeutic necessity, and last, but not least,
financial reward and fame.
If writing does not foster this self-examination, it is nothing more
than a skill to use words, to use language, and to use writing to
manipulate and not to satisfy the reader.
Charles O. Goulet has a BA in history and a BEd in English literature.
He has written several historical novels that are available at
Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Barnes and Noble, and many other bookstores.
Charles O. Goulet
RR 1
Evansburg, AB
T0E 0T0
go...@telusplanet.net
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Author: Charles O. Goulet
Sometime one must coax the words out.
Each day is a struggle to sit before the computer and produce-produce
words that are appropriate, produce sentences that are logical,
produce paragraphs that are focused, and produce a page that is
relevant to the project-whether it is a poem, a short story, an
article, an essay, or part of a novel.
Once the determination is made to sit and produce, then the output
seems easier even if one has to wrest the words from a blank mind.
Once started, the flow becomes inevitable, although the ideas may not
be what was intended or planned. At times, it implies that one is not
in command, and at other times one is not.
Sometime one must dredge the words from the soul to produce something,
anything, but one must strive to be in control and focused on the
piece that one has under consideration even if it is nothing more than
an entry in a journal, a diary, or a forum of any kind.
If the writer concentrates on communicating with the intended reader,
the ideas will come, and if the ideas come, the words to express them
will also come. That is the nature of writing-to share ideas with
others.
So whether you have to coax, prod, or drag the words, the sentences,
the paragraphs out, the important objective is to create a composition
that will be an adequate expression of the writer's thoughts.
Charles O. Goulet has a BA in literature. He has published several
books that are available at Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, and many other book
stores.
Sankofa Literary Society Posting Home
Author: David Silva
Writers are an insecure lot.
It's easy to understand why. You screw up at work and your boss jumps
on your case, quick to tell you exactly what you need to do if you
want to keep your job stuffing dough into that pizza press. You screw
up your writing ? well, ten weeks later you receive a polite, generic
rejection letter in the mail that basically says: Thanks, but no
thanks. There is no boss to tell you how you screwed up or how to make
it better. You're on your own, Mr. Wannabee A. Writer. Go lock
yourself in your bathroom/office until you figure it out.
Unfortunately, this lack of feedback goes against our very nature as
homo sapiens. If there's no stop sign at the intersection, we have to
give serious consideration to whether we're willing to stop or not.
That can be a real chore for those of us who are busy trying to dig a
dime out between the seat cushions for that double-mocha cappuccino on
the way to work. Put in a stop sign and it's a no-brainer. You stop.
Then you start digging for the dime.
But for a writer, feedback comes in only one form ? if you sell the
story, you did something right. If you didn't sell it, you did
something wrong. There are those who will try to tell you this isn't
true. That you can get good feedback from your spouse or your
girlfriend or your buddies. But these are the same people who said you
were feeding dough into the pizza press just fine. You can't trust the
opinions, good intentions or not, of people who are only casual
observers. So ? did your story sell or didn't it?
Well ? no. But why can't the editor take an extra minute and just tell
me what was wrong? you wonder.
Yours is not the only manuscript the editor has to read. There are
stacks of manuscripts all over the office, some higher than the
desktop, with more arriving in the mail everyday. Editors don't have
an extra minute. Not if they plan to scarf down a sandwich between
noon and twelve-fifteen and still have time for a bathroom break. Your
story has a page, two at the most, to capture the editor's interest.
After that, well, there's always another story on the stack.
Another reason why the editor doesn't tell you what's wrong: your
story's a nightmare. It would take more time to explain the problems
than it took you to write the thing.
And the biggest reason of all: hell hath no fury like a writer
scorned. Offer some helpful advice and the editor has undoubtedly
learned that too often what he gets in return is an indignant letter
full of obscenities.
Finally, writers need to understand that editors don't have all the
answers. Yes, it's true, editors are people, too. They have their
likes and their dislikes, their stern beliefs, their misconceptions.
While one editor may abhor your story, another may find it brilliant.I
mention all this in case you weren't already insecure enough.
And I mention it because there's another dead end request editors get
thrown at them quite frequently. It goes like this:
Dear Mr. Editor: Enclosed please find my short story, titled "A Story
By Any Other Name." I hope you like it. I think it's the best thing
I've written. If you decide not to buy it, could you please tell me
why. And could you also tell me if I should keep writing. I'd like to
know if I have a future doing this.
If you have to ask, the answer is no, you don't have a future and you
shouldn't keep writing.
Writing is not a pursuit for those who are weak of heart. Nor those
who are thin-skinned. It is a pursuit for those who love doing it.
William F. Nolan used to say that if you want to be a writer then you
sit your behind in the chair and write. Charles Grant said that he
writes because he has to; he can't imagine not writing.
You want to be a writer? Don't ask editors or anyone else if you have
what it takes. They don't know. They can't tell you if you'll make it
or not. They might be able to tell you if you need to develop your
skills more, but you already knew that. Writing is a profession you
never stop perfecting. There's always more to learn.
You want to be a writer?
Persevere.
Go write ? and persevere.
David Silva
The Successful Writer
http://thesuccessfulwriter.com
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Author: R.G. Srinivasan
Writing for the web is very different from writing for the print
medium. Writing for the web requires some special abilities. Mastering
these abilities is crucial to establish yourself as a well known
author or content writer in this challenging medium.
Here are a few key tips to make you an expert in writing for the web.
Make your document scan able
People scan a web page rather than read them. Make your document
easily readable by using simple and short sentences. A few short
sentences make short paragraphs. Short paragraphs are more easily
scanned than longer ones.
Use heads, subheads and lists
Start the writing with a header followed by short sentences. Use as
many sub heads as required for different points. Sometimes you may
also use a list to highlight all the important points.
The title could be short and work the best. However longer titles can
have keywords and are more searchable
Use of Keywords
Being searchable is an important aspect of Web writing. Whatever be
the title of your topic, article or web page, use related key words as
often as possible throughout the page. Start with a summary which has
a higher density of these keywords followed by a liberal sprinkling of
them throughout the copy.
However the use of keywords must be natural and should not be used
without making sense just for being searchable.
Provide links for additional information
This is something unique to web writing. Wherever you want to be
descriptive or provide more information you can provide a link to the
required page. While this makes your writing to the point, the reader
has the option to learn more on the subject if he so desires.
Summarize
The best principle to follow in web writing is tell what you want to
tell. Tell it. Tell what you have told.
Start your writing with a small summary of what you want to say. Then
say what you want to in the main content. Finally conclude by giving a
summary of what you have said.
Keeping these key techniques in mind for whatever you want to write
for the web will make you more readable, keep your readers happy,
search engines finding you easily and your own satisfaction at being
able to deliver quality content.
R.G. Srinivasan is a Certified Trainer, Writer and Author with more
than two decades of managerial experience. He writes a regular blog on
home-business resources which you may check out at
http://www.home-businessresources.blogspot.com for online marketing
tips, resources, opportunities and online promotional strategies