Read What You Write

In order to be a good writer, I had to start reading like one. I have two reading modes–one for pleasure and information and the other for writing technique. In the first, I sit at my desk or in a comfy chair and read for entertainment or knowledge without paying much attention to how the writer wrote the text. But in the second, I read for technique, carefully paying attention to structure, grammar, and English usage.

Many writers never read their work once they finish it. In fact, too many beginning writers never look at what they write beyond their first draft. Writing takes on a life of its own and only after it has “settled” a bit can I really see the problems and the mistakes.

Writing on a computer has lots of advantages, but the one big disadvantage is that I find myself being hypnotized by the print on the screen–so much so, that I often don’t see simple mistakes right in front of me. To avoid this problem, I print out each draft of what I write–yea, I know it isn’t good for the trees–and put it aside to read later. Later can be the next hour, the next few hours, or the next day. Just the act of getting away from that particular piece of writing helps me to get a new perspective on it. Also, I usually read it somewhere else, say in that comfy chair with a nice cup of coffee, just the way I would read any other material.

In this process, my mind forgets for a while what I wrote and sees it as if it’s something new. This, alone, helps me to see the flaws in my writing, so that I can act as my own editor. In effect, I’m not only reading it as a reader but also reading it as a writer.

Please check out my Web site, Writing at Its Best, for some example of my work over the last 35 years. Also, to see a highly developed online magazine on antiques, which I launched in 2015, go to The Antiques Almanac.

Beyond Words

Words are the building blocks of writing. They’re what pulls readers in and keeps them there. But having a great vocabulary isn’t all there is to writing. In fact, it’s only half the story. Besides being able to choose the right words, a writer must also know how to assemble them to communicate a clear message. And part of that is mastering the language in which the writer is writing—in this case English.

The use of sentence structure, punctuation, and capitalization is called English usage. Grammar is part of it. As a writer, you cannot ignore grammar. Too many beginning writers today think that it’s the editor’s job to correct their sentence structure and grammatical mistakes. And while an editor may correct the occasional grammatical error, his or her main job is to make sure sentences read correctly and that the content is clear. This is the job of the copy editor.

If you don’t make sure that your final draft is free of grammatical mistakes, then you’re not much of a writer. And while good editors will make sure to point out all of your grammatical errors, it will take away from the job they were meant to do. Plus it will cost you since the more time an editor spends on your work, the more an independent editor has to charge.

If you send your work to a publisher, he or she will assign an editor to work with you. But before an editor even begins to edit a book manuscript, for example, a reader will be assigned to read it. If there are lots of English usage and grammatical mistakes, your manuscript will be rejected.

If you have a problem with sentence structure, punctuation, and the like, you’ll need to do something about it before you go on. A professional writer is a not only a wordsmith but has honed writing skills. They’re the tools of this profession.

Perhaps you felt that grammar and such were unimportant as you sat in English class bored to tears as the teach went on about participles and gerunds, for example. After all, you want to write—to create interesting stories. Why do you need to concern yourself with such mundane things. What you didn’t realize at the time was that those mundane things would become your everyday tools to help you create those interesting stories.

So where can you get help? You could sign up for a basic writing class at a local adult evening school. Or you could buy yourself a book on English usage. You can easily find a used one at a local library book sale or get it online at Amazon.com. You can also improve your English usage and grammar online.

Begin with the article “14 Must-Visit Websites to Learn English Grammar Online.” Then check each one of them out and see which offers the best resources for you. Another great site is English Grammar 101. There are whole lot more to choose from, so take your pick.  Use the exercises provided to improve your writing skills. And before you know it, you’ll be writing like a pro because isn’t that what you want to be—a professional writer. 

The Almightly Comma

Commas are an essential form of punctuation in any type of writing. But their use has fluctuated over the years. Because of this, writers and non-writers alike have become confused as to when to use them.

Everyone learns to write in school. Unfortunately, academic writing has its own set of rules, most of which lean towards formality. But today, writing outside of school is decidedly informal. In fact, even lawyers now attend seminars to help them write briefs in plain language.

The trend today is to use fewer commas and only in the essential places in a piece of writing. Some people use them like spices in cooking, peppering their work with as many as possible just in case they might forget to use one somewhere where it’s needed. Others don’t use enough commas, making their writing hard to understand.

All punctuation is meant to help the reader know when to breathe when they’re reading aloud. The same holds true for reading silently. Think about it.

Before the invention of the printing press, the only punctuation was a dot at the end of a thought. This made most manuscripts very difficult to read. But then, most people didn’t even know how to read back then. When the printing press came along, it allowed printers to insert other forms of punctuation to make it possible to not only know when to pause—using commas—but also when to raise the voice—exclamation points—when to stop—periods—etc.

To begin with, the typical comma is used to separate two independent clauses. That means that both clauses must have a subject and a verb. The comma comes before the conjunction—and, but, for, so, or yet—that links the two clauses. A comma isn’t used when there is an independent clause followed by another verb that continues the same thought. This is technically a compound verb.

There seems to be lots of controversy as to whether a comma should be used between the last two items in a series. Currently, it seems that a writer can place it there or not. And that, unfortunately, is how the English language evolves—by trial and error. Eventually, the majority of users will use it one way or the other making that the rule.

Another place that beginning writers and lots of other people get confused about commas is at the end of a quote, before the tag line. The quote and the tag line are usually all part of the same sentence. So at the end of a quote or piece of dialogue, place a comma, followed by quotation marks, followed yet again by the tag line—“he said” or “she said.”

Commas are also used to offset nouns of direct address. An example might be “Steven, please pick up some milk on your way home.” Or to set off phrases such as “of course” or following or surrounding words like “unfortunately.”

Finally, the use of the semi-colon is on its way out. Instead, many writers now place a comma. But a little caution is in order. Instead of using the semicolon in the first place, make the two clauses it’s joining into separate sentences. The resulting sentences will be shorter and easier to read.

Remember, commas are the signal to pause. So when not sure, read the sentence aloud to see if a pause is needed. Then insert a comma where the pause should go.

To learn the correct use of all types of punctuation, read "Punctuation in a Nutshell" in the Writer's Corner section of my Web site.

Adjusting to the Changes to Our Language

The term “Modern English” can be a misnomer. English used by great writers such as Herman Melville and James Joyce is almost a completely different language from the one writers use today. While much of that has to do with vocabulary that isn’t used anymore, a good bit of it has to do with style—how writers say what they want to communicate.

Back then, life was more formal and so was the language everyone used. Wealthy educated people followed the British model while the common laborer used a lot of slang. Over the years, English has changed a lot. In fact, our language changes about every five years. New words come into common use as archaic ones get phased out. Another change, at times subtle, is punctuation. Semicolons are on their way out while dashes appear more frequently. And change remains continuous in English as the language adapts to the changing needs of those who use it.

As always, change is most easily seen in vocabulary. In its very early history, the Christianization of Britain brought such Latin words as angel, candle, priest, and school into English. From the Danish invasions came such basic words as they, their, them, skull, skin, anger, husband, knife, law, root, and ill. Following the Norman Conquest, people added many French words, such as dance, tax, mayor, justice, faith, battle, paper, poet, surgeon, gentle, flower, sun, to name just a few.

In the 17th century, Latin words poured into English as students studied more of it. Words such as industry, educate, insane, exist, illustrate, multiply, benefit, paragraph, and delicate, all came from Latin.

As English explorers like John Cabot and James Cook reached out to other parts of the world, they brought their language with them. It continued its habit of borrowing, drawing on Arabic for alcohol and assassin, Hebrew for cherub and kosher, East Indian for jungle and yoga, Japanese for tycoon, Spanish for adobe and canyon, and many other languages. The borrowing process continues today.

In the past 100 years, two things have greatly affected the development of the English language. The first was the rapid development of mass education and the resulting rise in literacy. The second is the advancement of science and technology. The more people able to read English in print, the greater their input. 

Today, through the explosion of electronic media, an even greater number of people have access to the printed word.  This is already causing our language to develop differently from one in which writers target only a special literary minority and in which people speak face-to-face.

The technological revolution of the late 20th and early 21st centuries has given English a burgeoning vocabulary of technical terms that have become a part of the common language almost overnight.

Changes in grammar since the 16th century, though minor compared with the earlier loss of inflections and the accompanying fixing of word order (see last week’s blog), have continued in today’s English. Reliance upon word order and function words has become even greater.

Questions in the form of Consents she? and negations in the form of I say not or I run not have disappeared, and have been replaced by the verb do, as in Does she consent?, I do not say, I do not run. And even these have become shortened by the use of contractions—a form forbidden by most English teachers—to I don’t say or I don’t run.

The use of the verb to be has become more common, as in He was shopping or We are studying, shortened further to We’re studying. Other changes include an increase in the number of verbs combined with adverbs or with prepositions, as in He looked up the word or She looked over her new garden. Similarly, writers now use nouns as modifiers of other nouns, as in college student, car radio, gas station, space flight.

English will continue to evolve and writers must stay abreast of the changes. While many are subtle, it doesn’t take much for writing to appear stale and antiquated in today’s high-tech world.

What Do You Know About Our Language?

As an American writer, you write in English. You’ve spoken and written in this language all your life. You take it for granted. But what do you really know about the English language?

Ask anyone who speaks English as a second language, and they’ll tell you how hard it is to learn. While Russian seems like a difficult language, it pales when compared with English. The reason our language is so complicated is that it’s actually derived from most of the European languages. You probably recognize certain French, Spanish, Italian and even Portuguese words. And you certainly know many German words, but did you know English also includes words from the Slavic languages, including Russian, the Scandinavian languages, especially Danish, and also Celtic.

English is directly descended from the language of the Germanic tribes—the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes—who invaded the British Isles in the 5th and 6th centuries, driving out or absorbing the Celtic inhabitants after the Romans withdrew. We can date the three periods of our language—Old English, used until about 1100 A.D., Middle English, used from about 1100 to 1500 A.D., and Modern English—to this Anglo-Saxon invasion.

Old English consisted mainly of Anglo-Saxon words with a few Old Norse words thrown in. These came from the Vikings who invaded the British Isles in the 8th through the 10th centuries. This early form of English used inflectional endings similar to those used in modern German and a much freer word order than exists in Modern English. Thus, Old English depended upon changes in the forms, particularly the endings, of words to show their relationship to one another. Personal pronouns---I, me, my, mine and so on—are among the few types of inflection remaining in English today.

Middle English was a transitional form of our language influenced by the Norman Conquest in 1066. The Normans also were Vikings who settled in northern France and who had gradually exchanged their native Old Norse language for Old French, which contained Latin, Scandinavian, and French words to England. For nearly 400 years French was the major language of the ruling class while Old English became the language of commoners.

As the Normans became culturally and politically separated from Europe, their association with the English-speaking common people gradually led to the resurrection of English as the spoken language of all classes. For example, beef (boeuf), mutton, and venison—words of French origin—describe meat cooked and served at the table while cattle, sheep, and deer—words of Anglo-Saxon origin—describe meat on the hoof in the field.

Word order became the principal means of conveying meaningful relationships among words in a sentence in Middle English. At the same time, the number and importance of  articles, prepositions, and conjunctions grew. During the Middle English period, the dialect spoken in London emerged as the basis for standard English. Also, most of the major writers of the late Middle Ages used it. And at the time, there wasn’t a single literary language. Goeffrey Chaucer, an English writer of the period, wrote his Canterbury Tales in the dialect of London of Middle English.

The shift from Middle English to Modern English occurred during a series of pronunciation changes known as the Great Vowel Shift. As a result of these changes which took place between 1350 and 1550, English began to sound more as it does today.                        

The invention of the printing press had a positive effect on the development of English. Printing, and the subsequent increase in people who could read and write, tended to slow change and foster greater stability and standardization in both the spoken and written language. The downside was that word spelling became more confusing because of the Great Vowel Shift.  Sir Thomas Mallory wrote Morte d’Arthur, his famous tale of King Arthur, during the early years of Modern English.

Modern English adapts to the changing needs of writers who use it. And while most of the changes occur in vocabulary, modern usage has changed forms and uses of punctuation, and even sentence structure.

Next Week: I’ll be looking at some of the ways English has changed since the 19th century.

Winning the Power Struggle

Do you feel powerless as a writer? Do you feel as if the fate of your writing is in everyone else’s hands but your own? If so, you’re not alone. At some point in every writer’s career, those feelings can be overpowering.

So how can you take that power back and put the fate of your writing in your hands instead of someone else’s?

Let’s start with the guilt you feel when you aren’t writing. Every writer feels that at one time or another. You have the ideas. You have the drive. You have the skills. So why won’t other people leave you to it?

Perhaps your friends and family don’t see you as a writer. You’ve got to promote yourself to them. When you have something published, give or send them a copy, not for feedback but just to show them what you’ve accomplished. In fact, make a point of telling them you just want them to read it to enjoy. They’ll perceive you as creating a product for their enjoyment. Doing so also says you’ve made it.

Another power struggle occurs when you think you can only write in a certain place and at a certain time. If you’re good at writing and like to write, you can write anywhere and at any time. You can write on a scrap envelope or even on a napkin in a restaurant. If you have the ideas, you can write. Get out of this rut and write at some other place and time different from when you normally do. Take your laptop to McDonald’s, buy a cup of coffee, and sit down and write something—anything.

Comments from editors—especially negative ones aimed at you—can sideline your writing, sometimes for weeks or even months. Don’t put editors on a pedestal. Remember, a lot of them wanted to be writers but couldn’t be without a regular paycheck. A lot of them are just frustrated writers. If an editor treats you that badly, it’s time to move on. They can be just as bad as bosses in a day job.

And don’t let comments from other people sidetrack you. While editors should have the credibility to say whether your writing is good or bad, other people don’t—not even English teachers. While English teachers may know their grammar and usage, most don’t understand the kind of writing you’re trying to do. Academic writing is totally different and what you’re writing isn’t literature.

Remember, only someone who’s in the writing business can tell you if you’re good or not. If an editor does say you can’t write, ask them why. Ask them to go into details. It’s the only way you’re going to learn to improve your skills. But if another person without credibility says that to you, just ignore them, or at least say you would never begin to criticize the way they do their type of work.

Don’t get wrapped up in market trends. Too many writers think they have to write about the latest trendy subject. In fact, there are probably too many other writers writing about that very subject. Pick another one that few writers are writing about.

Do you believe the only way you’re going to get published is if you have an agent? Many writers do. Agents are people who help sell books and films to the right people. But you really don’t need one if you’re willing to pitch and promote your own work. Famous writers mostly have agents because they’re way to busy to pitch and promote their own work.

Don’t rely totally on anyone else’s opinion about what you write. Only you can make the final decision about what to include. But do listen to what others who are credible have to say and take what they say into consideration.

Finally, don’t put the fate of your writing in anyone’s hands but your own. Only you have the power to make things happen. And when you do make it in writing, shout it out to the world!

Seeking Perfection

All writers strive for perfection. Some achieve it easily while others struggle to obtain it. For a writer, perfection can take many forms. For some it takes the form of perfect grammar. For others it takes the form of English usage. And for still others it takes the form of content.

The reading public believes that all writers should practice perfect grammar. People are almost unforgiving in this respect. If a doctor slips up on a diagnosis or treatment, the patient doesn’t go back to him or her and correct them. In fact, most patients probably wouldn’t know if their doctor had made a mistake unless he or she said so or something unusual happened.

But with grammar—that thing that everyone studies in school—it’s different. Everyone either uses good or atrocious grammar. For many who perhaps didn’t finish high school or perhaps stopped their education after graduating, daily grammatical mistakes are forgiven—“They don’t know any better.” If a person is college educated, that forgiveness is less forthcoming—“They should know better.” But for writers, for which grammar is a tool of the trade—“They ought to know better.”

Yes, writers ought to know better, but they’re also human. And in conversation, perhaps in the heat of the moment, they may occasionally make a grammatical mistake.

English usage is right behind grammar. Writers seek to practice correct English usage, but with styles changing every five years or so, it’s hard to keep up with what’s acceptable or not. Readers forget that today’s writing style is vastly different from say that of the early 20th century.

Unfortunately, a lot of writers, stylistically speaking, are still back in the mid-20th century. Some will tell you that’s the way they learned to write in school, and so they continue using outdated English usage. A good example is the use of dashes. Today, readers are more visual, therefore writers use dashes more often to visually separate information from the main body of the text.

Another example is the semi-colon. While businesspeople and academics still hold on to using this form of punctuation, many of today’s writers opt to forgo using semicolons. Instead of joining two thoughts with them, they create two separate sentences whose similar content joins them automatically.

Lastly, writers strive for perfection in their content. Not only should sentences be complete and logical, but thoughts and ideas need to be, also. In a shorter piece, that’s usually not a problem. But when a writer is working on a book, a play, or a screenplay, he or she can lose sight of where they’re going. And if they don’t check for consistency once in a while, they may lose their readers as well.

Perfection for most writers comes during the revising and rewriting process, after they’ve finished writing a piece. But going over and over a piece, constantly revising it, can do more harm than good. Too much revising is as bad as too little. Trying to be too perfect can ruin a good piece of writing.

For many writers, perfection comes after working on many pieces. Each one adds to a writer’s overall sense of perfection. To be a perfectionist too early on can stifle not only a writer’s creativity but his or her ability to write.

Asking for Feedback

Writing is a solitary and usually isolated venture. But if you keep your writing to yourself, you’ll never know how readers will react to it. Soliciting feedback can be a slippery slope, even for a professional.

It’s one thing to solicit feedback for your writing, and quite another interpreting it. Who gives you feedback is as important as the opinions they offer—and that’s the key word, opinions. If you take everything everyone says about your writing at face value, then you’re sure to fail.

Many writers got into writing because friends of theirs told them they had a knack for it. Have you heard statements like this: “You communicate so well.” “I can’t put down anything you write until I finish it.” “You’ve got a real gift.” All are words of encouragement, but they’re not constructive criticisms, and that’s what you want and need to improve your writing.

The first step to receiving usable feedback is to determine just who you want to give it. Ordinary readers just won’t do. What you need are expert readers—people who will read your work critically and offer suggestions for improvement. They can be other writers or editors or people who are knowledgeable in your subject area. The worst ones are probably academics—English teachers, researchers, etc. Academic has it own set of rules, and, for the most part, they’re very different than those of general writers—those who write articles, non-fiction books, short stories, and novels. You’re not looking to just have someone catch mechanical mistakes like spelling and punctuation, but instead you need to have these readers give you feedback on the content, plot, and general organization of your work.

To make the most of feedback, you need to follow the Writing Cycle. This is a eight-step method that each piece you write must follow. First, you need to think about what you’re going to write. Second, you need to focus your idea. Third, you need to organize it in a logical manner. Fourth, you need to write a first draft—get everything out on the paper. Fifth, you need to seek feedback. Sixth, you need to adjust your work and add details if necessary. Seventh, you need to revise and polish your work based on that feedback. Eighth, you need to proofread your work.

Getting feedback for most writers means letting someone else read what you’ve written. But in the feedback stage above, it’s not about reading your rough draft. Instead, it’s about telling the other person about your idea, then having them ask questions based on what you’ve told them about what you’ve written. If you do want someone else to read your work, you’re going to have to proofread your rough draft before they see it.

At this stage, you need to go back and make the adjustments that the person or persons has suggested. Then put your work away for a awhile. Let it sit for a couple of days, a week, even a month. Then take it out and read it as if you are the reader. Mistakes and misplaced content will stand out. Make it right based on your own opinion of your work.

Now it’s time to expose it to a select audience—to test market your work. If you were writing a children’s book, the logical test group would be children of the age to understand your book. You’ll know immediately after they’ve read it if you’re on the right track. For mysteries, other mystery writers and mystery readers are your target group, and so on.

Many people are on Facebook and other social networking sites these days. But these are not the people you want to read your work and offer feedback. First, people on Facebook, for example, usually skim through posts and don’t read anything at length. Second, these are not people with astute opinions.

You might consider joining a writing group. However, members of these groups have a tendency to stroke each others egos and probably won’t offer any useful feedback.

So selecting the right readers for your work is crucial. These should be people you trust will give you their honest opinion and offer constructive criticism—criticism that will help improve your work. Never ask if they like your work. Instead, ask specific questions about characters, plots, and general content and organization.

In receiving criticism, it’s essential that you remain clear about retaining ownership over your material and letting go of what may not ultimately work. Only then can you successfully sort through responses and weigh the validity of comments that might improve your work versus those that may be clouded by a particular reader’s personal taste, bias or overall reaction to content. Everyone, even experts like editors have opinions. After writing regularly for a publication for seven years, a new editor told a writer he couldn’t write. Now how can that be? That’s the power of personal opinions.

You can’t listen to everything everyone says about your work. The more general the reader, the less useful feedback they’ll offer. The most helpful feedback comes from readers who want you to succeed. Rather then change your work, they want to help make it better.

The Fate of Punctuation

This past week, the Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary folks announced they had added over 150 new words, including hashtag and selfie—words increasingly used by many people in social networking—to the classic volume. Even though a word may have become popular in usage, it takes a while for it to make it to the big leagues and the dictionary. You might say this also applies to spelling. But the same doesn’t go for punctuation or English usage. Their acceptance comes from continued correct or incorrect usage. The more they’re used, the sooner their use becomes acceptable by the public. But the process can take a long time.

The French have their National Academy, which acts as a watchdog over their language. For anything, including punctuation, to be used in the French language, it must first be approved by the National Academy. Unfortunately, the United States doesn’t have any such watchdog institution.

Every profession has rules and writing is no different. To be successful at writing—and for many that means getting published—you need to know and follow the rules, and that includes the rules for punctuation.

Some beginning writers feel they need to ignore these as a way these as a way of developing their own style. But every artist, including writers, starts by learning the basics. The unique thing about writing is that it’s a language art. And in order for everyone to communicate clearly, every language has usage rules, including those for punctuation. While you may be communicating in English, the same would apply if you were writing in Spanish, French, German, or any other language.

However, many beginning writers are led astray by the blatant ignoring of basic rules by published professionals, all in the name of style. Many big name writers do this to attract attention to their work. And their publishers go along with it because these writers make lots of money for them. In these cases, ignoring the traditional rules of punctuation is profit based rather than language based.

What some famous writers don’t realize is the effect their work has on writers who look up to them. They don’t see that they have a responsibility to all those that follow them to present their work in the best possible light.

So how did all this miss-use start? Email seems to be the culprit in most cases. Since its inception, there have been no rules governing how anyone writes anything in their messages. Originally used by academics to exchange notes, Email quickly evolved into the message medium for college students, who saw this it as a way to defy the rules of the English language which they had to adhere to in their studies. Soon this ignoring of the rules spread downward to high school students. And the problem got worse since Email had no rules, communication with it became an “anything goes” concept. Even today, most people still aren’t sure if they should adhere to good English usage or just do whatever they want.

Punctuation—or the lack of it— soon became a problem in other types of writing. Some Email users used no punctuation while others wrote in phrases instead of coherent sentences. Both came about because student users and soon everyone viewed Email as a personal communication medium in which both the sender and receiver knew each other fairly well. Soon all users adopted a casual style to Email.

But then something began to happen. That same casual style used in Email messages began to appear in articles, stories, and even books. If a lot of people used this style in their Emails and in online forums, many writers assumed it was okay to use it in their work. But in many cases it isn’t okay because not using the right punctuation, for example, can prevent clarity and ease of reading. Good examples include using two forms of punctuation at the end of a sentence when only one will do (?!) or (!!!!!) or using punctuation marks incorrectly, such as using an ellipse (...) outside of quotation marks to trail off the end of a sentence. While the latter may not be confusing to the reader, the former certainly is.

Creative Thinking Comes Before Creative Writing

Many writers don’t think before they write—at least not creatively. Because of this, they get mired in the mess of words that sometimes pours out of their heads without any idea of where they’re going with them.

Part of the reason for this goes back to school. While some teachers encourage creative thinking, most don’t. They’re under pressure to cover all the material in the curriculum for their course in a specified time, and in many cases that doesn’t leave room to get creative.

A young, enthusiastic English teacher, who also was an actor in her off hours, got very creative in teaching Shakespeare. The head of the English department admonished her for doing so and not sticking to the curriculum for her course. Needless to say, the teacher took it until the end of the year, then she quit. Her students really got into Shakespeare, but according to the old biddy who headed up the department, that wasn’t the way to do it.

Many beginning writers believe if they just sit in front of their computer that the right words will pour out. They think this way because in school they often had to write in class with little time to properly think out what they were doing. While this type of spontaneous writing may work part of the time, usually when it does, it’s a “happy accident”—a fine creation that usually can’t be duplicated because the writer doesn’t know how they did it in the first place. The trick is to figure out how to creatively solve a writing problem, so the procedure can be repeated. Stephen King has authored lots of books. Once he figured out how to make his first one a success, all he had to do was creatively think of other plots that he could use. By making them twist and turn, he came up with a mass of work.

When beginning a writing project, it’s important to sit and think about it from several different angles. Look at all the possibilities. Mull it over. One of those possibilities might be out in left field, but it just may turn out to be the best solution. Jot down every alternative that seems like it might work.

As a freelance writer, you need to also think creatively at every opportunity, not just to write creatively but to operate your business that way. Once you start thinking creatively, you’ll find that it eventually becomes second nature. Life, itself, is a puzzle, but freelance writing is an even bigger one.

With brighter, more creative ideas than your competition, you can move forward quickly in freelancing. Never accept what looks like a closed door. Move in closer and give it a shove. You may discover it was simply an optical illusion.

The Toofer Controversy

The English language changes slightly about every five years. Sometimes, it’s a change in words and at others a change in punctuation or usage. Today, writing in general has been heavily influenced by chatting, texting, and messages on social network sites like Twitter.

Over the last five years, a controversy has arisen about punctuation and the word “too.” Throughout my schooling and my writing career, I always placed a comma before the word “too” when I used it at the end of a sentence.

A few months back I was revising a book of mine–How to Start a Home-Based Antiques Business–when I discovered that all the commas preceding the word “too” had disappeared in the current edition. I asked my editor about them, and she was as baffled as I. So in the revised edition, I replaced all those commas. I have yet to see the published new edition, so I don’t know if the commas mysteriously disappeared again.

Several months later, I noticed those same commas missing in the stories written by some of my creative writing students. This seemed to be more than a chance coincidence, so I did some checking.

It seems that at the moment I, as a writer, have the choice of whether to place a comma before the word “too.” Unlike other English usage practices, this is the only incidence in which I have a choice. So what’s the difference? If I place a comma before the word “too,” it implies that the sentence provides additional information. In this instance, I could substitute the word “also.” But if I delete the comma before the word “too,” the sentence lacks the emphasis I want. And writing is all about emphasis.

Don’t Forget the Basics

With the advent of computers, the Internet, E-mail, and especially texting, many students have glossed over basic writing skills in favor of abbreviated forms of communication. While most will sadly be able to get by communicating in writing, those interested in becoming writers have to heed to the call.

If you have any dreams of becoming a published writer, you need to pay close attention to your writing skills and, for some, English usage. The writing business has standards of quality—strict ones—that all writers follow, from best-selling book authors all the way down to beginning freelancers writing for their local newspaper.

While most people think that writing skills mean punctuation and capitalization—what writers call mechanics—the truth is they also include things like phrasing and idioms, and at the top of the list, sentence structure and paragraphing. Way down on the list is vocabulary. It doesn’t take big words to make your readers understand what you’re trying to say.

So if you’re writing skills aren’t up to par, it doesn’t matter how great your ideas are because you won’t be able to express them properly.

If you find your writing skills below par or perhaps lacking altogether, enroll in a basic composition class or a basic writing class at a local school night or community college. The former are less expensive and usually run for six to eight weeks. That’s plenty of time to get your skills in shape, especially if you have assignments to write each week.

Of course, you can improve your writing skills on your own, but you won’t get any feedback and that’s very important—not only from the instructor but from other students. If you have any plans to publish anything, get started now improving a writer’s second greatest asset—your writing skills. The first is your ideas.

Does Good Writing Have to be Literary?

It’s unfortunate that a writer’s first experience with reading professional writing happens in English class with the study of literature. I say unfortunate because without knowing it, writers often get led down the wrong path to good writing. Sure, the books and stories read in literature class are supposed to be a sampling of the best. But just who decides what is the best and who are the best writers?

Because of this, writers get the mistaken impression that all good writing has to be literary. Hogwash! There are loads of great writers that never made it into the literary stratosphere.

The arts–and writing is an art–have always been a haven for those who want to be separate from the masses. In Victorian times, the wealthy, the patrons of the arts, took great pains to make sure they didn’t hobnob with the lower classes. They ate in separate dining rooms, shopped in separate stores, and read literary works. This is essentially where the division between “literature” and “writing” began. And it’s held on to this day, albeit in a lighter form.

For instance, there are some who think that if The New York Times isn’t on their coffee table on Sunday mornings that they aren’t getting the best in news. Many of these same people also swear by The New Yorker as their source of the best in writing. Again, HOGWASH!

The literary crowd probably doesn’t classify most of the best books, articles, and stories published daily as good writing. The reason for this is that the writers of these works got paid. Beginning back in the Victorian Era, the literary crowd frowned upon anyone who got paid for their writing. They claimed this was selling out. Perhaps this is one reason why many good writers died penniless.

Today, with the proliferation of technology, most people have access to good writing on a daily basis–without the approval or recommendation of the literary crowd. Good magazine articles, short stories published in magazines that people buy at the supermarket checkout, books of all kinds, and now even electronic books (e-books) that they can read on devices like Amazon’s Kindle, make it easy for nearly everyone to have access to good writing.

So if you’re a beginning writer, only look to literature for inspiration, not technique. Study all the writing around you and imitate it. That’s the only way you’ll succeed and have money to eat in the process.

Read What You Write

In order to be a good writer, I had to start reading like one. I have two reading modes–one for pleasure and information and the other for writing technique. In the first, I sit at my desk or in a comfy chair and read for entertainment or knowledge without paying much attention to how the writer wrote the text. But in the second, I read for technique, carefully paying attention to structure, grammar, and English usage.

Many writers never read their work once they finish it. In fact, too many beginning writers never look at what they write beyond their first draft. Writing takes on a life of its own and only after it has “settled” a bit can I really see the problems and the mistakes.

Writing on a computer has lots of advantages, but the one big disadvantage is that I find myself being hypnotized by the print on the screen–so much so, that I often don’t see simple mistakes right in front of me. To avoid this problem, I print out each draft of what I write–yea, I know it isn’t good for the trees–and put it aside to read later. Later can be the next hour, the next few hours, or the next day. Just the act of getting away from that particular piece of writing helps me to get a new perspective on it. Also, I usually read it somewhere else, say in that comfy chair with a nice cup of coffee, just the way I would read any other material.

In this process, my mind forgets for a while what I wrote and sees it as if it’s something new. This, alone, helps me to see the flaws in my writing, so that I can act as my own editor. In effect, I’m not only reading it as a reader but also reading it as a writer.