Five Ways to Improve Your Writing
05. Use Dense Words A dense word crowds a lot of meaning into a small space.
05. Use Dense Words O People I didn’t know are… O Strangers O Things I was thinking and feeling O Thoughts and feelings O Something impossible to imagine is… O Inconceivable O Once a year is… O Annual
04. Use Strong Verbs Get rid of the verb “to be” and make your other verbs (such as LOOK and WALK) specific. Don’t rely on adverbs to describe your verbs.
04. Use Strong Verbs O A grandfather clock was in one corner, and three
books were on top of it. O A grandfather clock towered in one corner, and
three books lay on top of it. O Did you look? O Or did you stare, gaze, peek, or gawk? O Did you throw? O Or did you toss, flip, or hurl?
03. Use Strong Nouns Strong nouns are specific, precise, and densely packed with information.
03. Use Strong Nouns O Was it a black dog? O Or a Doberman? O Was it a large house? O Or a mansion? O A man entered the room. O A man? O Or was he a priest? O A senator? O A Lithuanian? O Or an ex-senator Lithuanian priest?
02. Show, Don’t Tell Don’t tell your readers what they need to feel, see, or think. Instead, let them experience the situation for themselves.
02. Show, Don’t Tell O My new boyfriend,
Arnold, is a terrific athlete. He’s also incredibly smart, very sentimental, and sort of strange.
O My new boyfriend,
Arnold, ran five miles to my cabin in the middle of that snowstorm last week. When he got here, he stood out in the snow and shouted that he loves me in five different languages.
01. Provide Facts Instead of writing your own conclusions, provide facts and let the readers come to their own conclusions.
01. Provide Facts O A lot of banks hand out
gifts when you open an account. Since you know that they want your account, you may assume there is no catch. But sometimes you lose money by taking the gift.
O In New York City, one major
bank recently advertised a free TV to people who would deposit $3,000 into a 3-year account that would pay 7% interest while other banks were paying 12% on 2-year $3,000 accounts. How free was that TV?
It is my ambition to say in ten sentences what others say in a whole book. Friedrich Nietzsche
As to the adjective, when in doubt, strike it out. Mark Twain
You write to communicate to the hearts and minds of others what’s burning inside you. And you edit to let the fire show through the smoke. Arthur Plotnik
Thank you for your attention!!!!
Any questions or comments?