SO, YOU WANT TO BE A WRITER


You want to be a writer, eh? Okay, then; what will you need to do? Here are 12 ways in which you can begin:

  • 1st and foremost, a writer must understand his/her own language. (We’ll go into greater depth on this subject and those that follow in subsequent blog posts.)
  • A writer must understand that writing is more than simply putting two or more words together to create a sentence.
  • A writer must understand that writing is more than simply telling a story.
  • A writer must understand that all words have meaning, and this meaning will reflect differently to different people.
  • A writer must be fascinated with words, and have a passion about length of sentences, metaphor, simile, rhythm and flow, and the aesthetic appearance of how words appear on a page.
  • A writer must understand originality.
  • A writer must be inventive.
  • A writer must be succinct.
  • A writer may not always hit the center of the bullseye, but he must, at the very least, have the ability to hit the target.
  • A writer must carefully choose words that will make his characters come alive—they should be living, breathing human beings and not representations of.
  • A writer must select words that will create a three-dimensional setting for his characters—a place where his characters can move in and out of easily, and not some place where they can only move up, down and sideways.
  • A writer must use words that will position his reader in the center of the action, making the reader feel as if he/she is a willing participant in all that is happening within the story.


There’s more, too. Still want to be a writer?

Comments

  1. Gregory C. RandallJuly 12, 2012 at 11:01 AM

    Great post, and absolutely true. Looking forward to the next posts. Check me out at www.writing4death.blogspot.com.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Gerard BiancoJuly 12, 2012 at 12:24 PM

    Thank you for your comment, Greg. I've gone to your blog and am now following it. I particularly enjoyed the Nora Ephron post. Always good to mingle with good writers.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

JANE ISAAC: THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS

Image
Today, I'm excited to introduce fellow mystery writer and guest blogger Jane Isaac. Jane is the author of the psychological thriller, An Unfamiliar Murder . Jane lives in rural Northamptonshire , UK . She studied creative writing, and later specialist fiction with the London School of Journalism. Jane is not only a mystery writer, she is also an avid reader, a mum, a dog lover and a traveler. Recently, she has had two short stories accepted for crime anthologies, so please listen up – she knows what she’s talking about. Here is her fact-filled essay: The Devil is in the Detail No matter what genre you write, every book carries some element of research and, for crime fiction, the weight is a heavy one. There’s not only police procedure, plotlines, areas and events to study, but also people. What’s the secret formula behind the great characters in fiction? Research. Investment into creating and layering our characters gives them the depth to become ‘real’. ...
Read more

3 REASONS TO USE SLANT RHYME IN YOUR POETRY

Image
S lant rhyme or half rhyme, sometimes called near rhyme or imperfect rhyme are words that come close to rhyming, but they really don’t rhyme. (Said / regret, or find / friend.)             Emily Dickinson is best known for her use of slant rhyme. They are a common characteristic of her poetry as is her unconventional punctuation.              I will admit, my original thoughts about slant rhyme were confining. I was under the impression that Dickinson (and others) used slant rhyming merely to increase the possibilities of word choice. This, in turn, would allow the poet greater flexibility and increase his/her ability to convey meaning.             In searching the internet for thoughts on the advantages of slant rhyme usage I came across a site, www.Chegg.com. In their definition of slant rhyme the author states...
Read more

DO YOU KNOW THE “BIG FOUR” FEMALE DETECTIVE WRITERS FROM THE “GOLDEN AGE”?

Image
If you’re a writer of detective fiction or someone who loves a good detective mystery, then you’ll want to learn all you can about the “Big Four” female detective writers from the 20s and 30s. Their combined work has sold in the billions. Okay, let’s take the leader out of the picture since her work has sold over 4 billion copies . That still leaves millions of books sold, which means there are millions of fans, which means millions of buyers. That ain’t chump change.    1)       Number one on the list is Agatha Christie (1890 – 1976). Creator of two of the best-loved detectives, Hercule Poirot and Jane Marple. She wrote the best-selling mystery of all time and one of the best-selling books of all time, And Then There Were None , selling over 100 million copies.    2)       Dorothy L. Sayers (1893 – 1957). Creator of one of the great detectives of the “Golden Age,” Lord Peter Wimsey—sophisticated, ...
Read more