The Write Blog

One of the most difficult parts of writing – even if you write all day, every day – is learning to ignore your internal editor when you’re working on a first draft.. Even now, as I start writing, I can hear the nagging voice of doubt that makes it difficult to put words on paper. My particular voice of doubt looks a bit like my ninth-grade English teacher: She’s got a sour expression on her face, and she’s wearing necklace made of little wooden apples. She knows everything. She hates experimentation. She stands behind me, reading over my shoulder and shaking her head. She makes little noises of disapproval as I work; the tap of my fingers on the keys punctuated every so often with notes of discouragement:

“Oh, you can do better than that, can’t you?”

“Well. That’s not very interesting, is it?”

“I just don’t get it.”

Writing well isn’t always easy. Fighting the urge to engage in too much self-editing is even harder. There’s nothing wrong with having high standards. But, if you fret too much about getting it right the first time, you’ll wind up with a migraine and a blank page.

Maybe your first draft is dreadful. So what? Throw it away, hit the “delete” key, bury it in the backyard in a shallow grave – whatever makes you feel better. And keep going. Experiment a little. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes.

You’ll have plenty of time to revise and let your internal editor go crazy after you’ve gotten your ideas written down. But, when you’re trying to write a first draft, you have to ignore her and concentrate on what you’re trying to say and how you’re trying to say it. You can’t grow as a writer until you learn to stop worrying about perfection.

When you work with words every day, it’s not always easy to keep your vocabulary fresh. I’m a word junkie. I’d like to think that I’m a formidable Scrabble opponent. I even have one of those dorky word-a-day calendars on my desk. But, like any other writer, I occasionally slip into a word choice wasteland where mediocrity rules and the most compelling adjectives I can come up with are absolutely mind-numbing: perfect; beautiful.

Yawn.

Good writing is about more than just stringing together a sentence or selling a widget. Good writing should grab the reader’s attention and make them want more, whether you’re writing ad copy, a financial newsletter, or even a blog entry. Precise, interesting words make or break your prose.

Invest in a good thesaurus. Use it. End of story.

After all, why settle for perfect when you can be unblemished, flawless, or unsurpassed?

Who wants to be merely beautiful? Personally, I’d rather be alluring or fetching.

Sometimes when trying to achieve a fun, casual tone in writing, especially important in many marketing and sales projects, it’s usually best to write the same way we talk, right?

Wrong. Our speech is riddled with poor grammar and misused words because we don’t have the advantage of editing our words as we speak (but wouldn’t that make the world a much better place?). We become accustomed to hearing words and phrases improperly used and incorporate them into our writing – but, even though these words, phrases, and poor grammatical structures are acceptable in speech, they are dead giveaways of poor copywriting.

So when writing an article, the word “restauranteur” kept showing up in red on my spell-check program. I didn’t understand the problem until my editor corrected me – the proper word is “restaurateur.” If I had been speaking, I could have faked it. But when mistakes are written on the page in black and white, they appear larger than life.

A good example of a phrase that is commonly misused in speech and then transferred into writing is “for all intensive purposes.” What exactly is an “intensive purpose?” That phrase makes no sense at all – the correct phrase is “for all intents and purposes.”

And then there’s my number one pet-peeve of all time, and a telltale sign of poor, uninformed writing: should of, would of, and could of.

When speaking, we often use the contractions “should’ve, would’ve, could’ve,” which sounds like we are saying “should of, would of, could of.” In fact, because they are contractions, the correct usage is should have, would have, and could have.

With a thorough background in grammar and some careful editing, these mistakes can be avoided. Spelling, grammar, and correct usage are the essential building blocks of polished writing. Be sure to watch out for those homonyms, most spell-check programs won’t pick them up. If you don’t know the difference between affect and effect, or when to use to, two, and too, try an internet search and brush up on commonly misused words.

And no, “irregardless” is certainly not a word, no matter how often you hear it in usage. “Regardless” is a better term – and correct … look it up!

After completing my first feature-length article, I received a mini-lesson on the art of asking questions in your writing to keep the reader’s interest. In order to be effective and engaging, each paragraph should begin and end with a question – not literally, of course – a sort of literary catapult that moves the reader, and the writing, forward.

For example, take this sentence:

When I arrived at my guest house, a special turndown present of olive oils, vinegars, and recipes nestled in my down pillows. It was signed by Chef Jean Lauzeral.

Now, these are solid sentences. They are grammatically correct and portray complete thoughts. They have subjects, verbs, and periods at the end. But are they engaging? Do they conjure up a question or a motivation in the reader’s mind? Not really.

A better opening would be:

Chef Jean Lauzeral’s gifts a signature keepsake to all of La Via Notte’s visitors – and it’s not served with dinner. When I arrived at my guest house, I discovered a special turndown present: Nestled in my down pillows was a ribbon-wrapped gift of olive oils, vinegars, and recipes.

See the difference? Instead of flat out stating what happened (“When I arrived at my guest house …”), there is an added element of suspense. The reader must question: What is the chef’s special gift? Why doesn’t it come with dinner? The reader doesn’t solve the mystery until late in the second sentence, when they discover that the gift is a basket of oils, vinegars, and recipes. Notice that these sentences seem to be more descriptive – adding details like “signature keepsake,” “nestled,” and “ribbon-wrapped” help vamp up the sentence. Adding these details and elements of mystery help propel the story along, piquing the interest of the reader.

Let’s try another example.

Weak:
Steeped in the wine country traditions of France and Italy, LaVia Notte offers unpretentious American cuisine that embraces organic ingredients from the farmers in Napa Valley and Northern California, while beautifully complementing the varied bounty of the local vintners. And at La Via Notte Ranch, wine is king.

Better:
But despite his rich menu and generous spirit, it is not Chef Lauzeral that reigns supreme at La Via Notte’s Lakehouse. It is wine that is king.

While certainly more of an art than a science, good copywriting should always try to engage the reader by offering them tidbits of information, essentially leading them to read on. Think of it like that old horse-and-carrot trick.

In the world of writing, writer’s block is an inevitable beast even the most valiant of writers must take on. After all, writing full time is not for the faint of heart. Luckily, there are a few tricks of the trade to keep the brain functioning and the creativity flowing even when the ugly beast is breathing fire in your face.

1. Turn the computer screen off. Sometimes, the brain can get caught up in “rules” of writing…grammar, spelling, punctuation. Typing with the screen off can be an easy way to set yourself free from the restraints of your sixth grade English teacher’s nasty rules since you won’t be able to see any “mistakes” made while typing. Focus on putting down good content so when it comes time to see what you’ve written, the writing will be full of substance, not rules.

2. Change up the scenery. Take your laptop outside on a sunny day. Sip an espresso at a local coffee shop. Or simply move to another room in your house. Whatever you do, change it up. We all know routine can become stagnant, and a new scene gives your thoughts the freedom to explore new territory.

3. Forget the norm. Change your font color…and font for that matter. Who said that writing had to be boring and plain old black and white? Choose a font and/or color that’s representative of your mood and personality. Feeling frustrated? Write in bold red. Happy? How about yellow cursive? The point is, get away from the norm and you might just find a favorite new way to get the word out.

4. Make an outline. Writers can often become overwhelmed by a large project. Outline the main aspects of your work, then go back and begin to flesh it out with details. Developing an outline organizes your long work into workable and attainable pieces making the writing process seem a lot less daunting.

5. Draw a map. (This is the outline for the visual learner.) Remember making idea webs in junior high English class? Well, you’re not too old to get back in the habit. Start by circling the main idea in the middle of your page, then branch off with relevant subject matter and branch again with supporting details. Pretty soon, your ideas are thoroughly represented visually on a page, and the writing process becomes so much easier.

6. Keep a list of ideas. As a writer, pen and paper are your tools, and you should never be without them. Keep an ongoing list of topics and ideas, writing them down as you think of them. This way, your idea well will never run dry.

Have another way to beat the Block? Share with us. We’d love to hear your ideas.