You write badly.
So do I.
Write better.
Write for your reader.
Your reader has no time. Briefer is better.
Choose your words carefully. Use few words well.
Words are like bullets: Make each one count.
To write better you must read your writing, edit it, reread it and edit it again, reread, edit again and again and again. Edit often, without remorse. Be mercilessly critical of your own text. You must be your harshest critic. This will limit others' criticism, and will inure you to their barbs.
See your writing from as many perspectives as possible. Imagine if you were a non-native speaker. Would you understand this crap you are writing? Imagine if you were old with poor eyesight. Would you be able to even read this garbage you have written? Imagine you are a young person with little experience: does that nonsense idea you are pushing make any sense? What will people who disagree with you think or say? Pretend you are the opposite sex, or queer, or heterosexual, or black, or white, or a space alien or or or! See the writing through the eyes of a reader.
Hate your writing because you love it. If you do not hate your writing you will never bother to improve it. You want to write the least stupid thing, the least ugly thing, the least obscure thing.
Read your work aloud: Then you hear how stupid it sounds. Rewrite accordingly. And then read it aloud again.
When you play chess you consider each move carefully: do that when you write. Consider each word carefully. Use few words, and well.
Learn and apply rules of punctuation.
You are not your writing. Knowing you are not your writing means you can see your writing like a stranger would. Knowing you are not your writing also makes it easier to accept criticism of it.
See your writing as writ: something outside and above you.
I am not an author: I am simply a scribe. The words flow forth from the author of the universe, through me, and onto the page.
You write badly. And when I say you I mean: me. I write badly. But I want to write better, and I want to write less badly than anyone else.
So do I.
Write better.
Words are like bullets.
Your reader has no time. Briefer is better.
Choose your words carefully. Use few words well.
Words are like bullets: Make each one count.
To write better you must read your writing, edit it, reread it and edit it again, reread, edit again and again and again. Edit often, without remorse. Be mercilessly critical of your own text. You must be your harshest critic. This will limit others' criticism, and will inure you to their barbs.
See your writing from as many perspectives as possible. Imagine if you were a non-native speaker. Would you understand this crap you are writing? Imagine if you were old with poor eyesight. Would you be able to even read this garbage you have written? Imagine you are a young person with little experience: does that nonsense idea you are pushing make any sense? What will people who disagree with you think or say? Pretend you are the opposite sex, or queer, or heterosexual, or black, or white, or a space alien or or or! See the writing through the eyes of a reader.
Hate your writing because you love it. If you do not hate your writing you will never bother to improve it. You want to write the least stupid thing, the least ugly thing, the least obscure thing.
Read your work aloud: Then you hear how stupid it sounds. Rewrite accordingly. And then read it aloud again.
When you play chess you consider each move carefully: do that when you write. Consider each word carefully. Use few words, and well.
Learn and apply rules of punctuation.
You are not your writing. Knowing you are not your writing means you can see your writing like a stranger would. Knowing you are not your writing also makes it easier to accept criticism of it.
See your writing as writ: something outside and above you.
I am not an author: I am simply a scribe. The words flow forth from the author of the universe, through me, and onto the page.
You write badly. And when I say you I mean: me. I write badly. But I want to write better, and I want to write less badly than anyone else.
No comments:
Post a Comment