Writing has rules, we know about grammar, spelling and punctuation. There are also genres of writing and each has it's own rules of style, theme and plot. Romance is always about a relationship, the words in between make up the story but the genre insists on a successful relationship between two people. Mysteries, have their rules about dastardly deeds and criminals caught in the end. Horror has bad creatures/ people who end up being slain by the hero. You get the idea.
If you write in one genre for awhile you can line up the basic plots alphabetically and just fill in the individual details like names and dates. It can become routine and you begin to wonder if a million monkeys typing at millions of computer keyboards could not, after all, come up with a best selling novel.
So, to get out of feeling like your own cliche, read other genres. Read fiction and non-fiction. Read news stories. Read recipes! Go to the library and pick a book at random. Read things that have nothing to do with your usual writing, other than the use of words and language. In reading other genres you can find ways to break out of your own cliched plot. Small things, as the basic elements are ingrained and expected. Still, if you can get around feeling like a robot writer, that's a good thing.
You Too Can Write Earth Shaking Headlines
I've always found headlines fun, a kind of challenge but a freedom to be a bit daring, wild and just plain contrary. You can pick something a bit misleading, something humourous, something argumentative or whatever appeals to you at the time.
The point is to catch the reader's attention and draw them into the article. By hook or by crook, you want to make them look.
Make sure your headlines are not redundant. Don't use words which will be skimmed over. Choose words which aren't already flooding the magazine. Words which the reader isn't glossing over due to repetition in the theme, content or other articles in the magazine/ publication. Make your headline unique, fresh and unexpected.
Keep it short. Most publications don't have space for your best creative headlines. If you keep it brief you won't be sad when the editor chops it down to size. Ideally, a headline fits in one line of column text. If you know the standards for the publication you're writing for measure your headline against the space available.
As always, keep in mind the tone and style of the publication. Don't submit something sexy if they avoid that style. Don't submit something really cutsey if the publication is serious. You may think that's limiting and takes away from all the fun of writing headlines. But, it doesn't. It just makes it that much more challenging. Have fun!
The point is to catch the reader's attention and draw them into the article. By hook or by crook, you want to make them look.
Make sure your headlines are not redundant. Don't use words which will be skimmed over. Choose words which aren't already flooding the magazine. Words which the reader isn't glossing over due to repetition in the theme, content or other articles in the magazine/ publication. Make your headline unique, fresh and unexpected.
Keep it short. Most publications don't have space for your best creative headlines. If you keep it brief you won't be sad when the editor chops it down to size. Ideally, a headline fits in one line of column text. If you know the standards for the publication you're writing for measure your headline against the space available.
As always, keep in mind the tone and style of the publication. Don't submit something sexy if they avoid that style. Don't submit something really cutsey if the publication is serious. You may think that's limiting and takes away from all the fun of writing headlines. But, it doesn't. It just makes it that much more challenging. Have fun!
Sense of Writing
The act of writing is very much about the five senses. But, how do we know there are only five?
I've wondered if there are other basic senses we just don't know about. I don't mean a sixth sense like ESP. Beyond those metaphysical senses. What if there is something just as physical as sight but since we don't have eyes we can't see it?
We know music because it's a sound and we can hear sounds. Hearing is one of our five senses (sight, touch, smell, taste and hearing). We know what we like to eat because we can smell and taste it. It seems to be there could be other things we will never know, things we aren't equipped to sense.
I have no idea what other sense we might be missing. How could I? I don't have the sense to figure it out. But, it does seem possible for something like that to exist. After all, there would be no music if we couldn't hear it. Just as there would be no words if we couldn't read them.
I've wondered if there are other basic senses we just don't know about. I don't mean a sixth sense like ESP. Beyond those metaphysical senses. What if there is something just as physical as sight but since we don't have eyes we can't see it?
We know music because it's a sound and we can hear sounds. Hearing is one of our five senses (sight, touch, smell, taste and hearing). We know what we like to eat because we can smell and taste it. It seems to be there could be other things we will never know, things we aren't equipped to sense.
I have no idea what other sense we might be missing. How could I? I don't have the sense to figure it out. But, it does seem possible for something like that to exist. After all, there would be no music if we couldn't hear it. Just as there would be no words if we couldn't read them.
The Stashing of Ideas
Do you wake up in the morning with the plot for the world's greatest novel formulating in your brain? Not every morning, but about once a week I do. Often when I'm in the middle of something else: driving, showering, putting away groceries, watching TV, talking on the phone, making dinner, plotting my greatest ever Canadian World Domination... I get the best ideas but have no paper handy to jot them down. I forget a lot of great ideas before I can write them down.
Sometimes I can rip something out of a magazine or the newspaper or the back of the box, etc. That way I can remember what I was thinking at the time. I keep a notebook in my purse, it takes up more than it's share of space but gives me a chance to keep some of my ideas. Not so handy while driving but, like using a cell phone, I can usually find a place to pull over to use it.
A lot of ideas are stashed in folders inside a file cabinet under my desk. They aren't well organized but they are there and I have some hope of tracking them down. It's great to know I have some kind of backup.
I write non-fiction so articles along my topic area are great as sources of quotes, research and people to contact. I'd like to write mysteries, maybe horror but it wouldn't be icky stuff. I thought about writing romances because they would be easy, they seem to be a formula more than a story. Put it on the list for someday. Everything I find to inspire me in those genres has a folder too.
For now I'm working with non-fiction and I do love it. For me its a combination of teaching the world and learning more myself. Each time I research one idea I find another dozen from there. Life is great.
Sometimes I can rip something out of a magazine or the newspaper or the back of the box, etc. That way I can remember what I was thinking at the time. I keep a notebook in my purse, it takes up more than it's share of space but gives me a chance to keep some of my ideas. Not so handy while driving but, like using a cell phone, I can usually find a place to pull over to use it.
A lot of ideas are stashed in folders inside a file cabinet under my desk. They aren't well organized but they are there and I have some hope of tracking them down. It's great to know I have some kind of backup.
I write non-fiction so articles along my topic area are great as sources of quotes, research and people to contact. I'd like to write mysteries, maybe horror but it wouldn't be icky stuff. I thought about writing romances because they would be easy, they seem to be a formula more than a story. Put it on the list for someday. Everything I find to inspire me in those genres has a folder too.
For now I'm working with non-fiction and I do love it. For me its a combination of teaching the world and learning more myself. Each time I research one idea I find another dozen from there. Life is great.
Reading Into It
Here's a writing exercise for you:
Write a short description of a scene or action with one character in the scene. Don't describe the character, or avoid as much description of the person as you can.
Now give someone else the scene to read. What do they think the character looks like, sounds like, etc? Is it anything the same as you pictured the character as you wrote the scene? Give the scene to other people to read, get a few opinions about what the character looks like.
It's interesting how people can read the same thing and see it in different ways.
When you write fiction, especially romance, mysteries or some other genre where people tend to identify themselves with the heroine/ hero of the story it's a good idea to avoid a lot of description of that person. Think of how jarring it is to be reading a book and remember the heroine is a redhead after all, not a brunette like yourself. People do put themselves in the story, usually as the star. Let them get into your story. As a writer we bring them new adventures they might never do themselves.
Write a short description of a scene or action with one character in the scene. Don't describe the character, or avoid as much description of the person as you can.
Now give someone else the scene to read. What do they think the character looks like, sounds like, etc? Is it anything the same as you pictured the character as you wrote the scene? Give the scene to other people to read, get a few opinions about what the character looks like.
It's interesting how people can read the same thing and see it in different ways.
When you write fiction, especially romance, mysteries or some other genre where people tend to identify themselves with the heroine/ hero of the story it's a good idea to avoid a lot of description of that person. Think of how jarring it is to be reading a book and remember the heroine is a redhead after all, not a brunette like yourself. People do put themselves in the story, usually as the star. Let them get into your story. As a writer we bring them new adventures they might never do themselves.
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