Three writing tips (for after you’ve finished writing)

Posted in communications, editing, writing by

So you’ve finished writing, and maybe you’ve even read your piece once or twice. But before you post/send/submit it, there are a few other things you should do.

Put it aside  

Hopefully you’ll read the piece a few times before you deem it finished. But when it comes to that final read, looking at it with fresh eyes is best. Fast-approaching deadlines can make it difficult to wait a day or even a few hours. But, at the very least, step away from the computer for a couple of minutes and do something else. When you return, you’ll be more likely to see what you actually wrote, not what you meant to write. If it’s possible, get someone else to read it, too.

Read it out loud

It’s easy to skip over problems when you read silently. Your eyes can trick you into thinking you wrote quite when you actually typed quiet. Reading out loud lets your ears catch these kinds of errors. Other benefits: hearing the words will point out run-on sentences and makes overused words and phrases hard to ignore.

Be meticulous

Attention to detail is key. Check everything, including facts, spelling, punctuation and word choices. Remember, even the most common words are often used incorrectly (know when it should be every day or everyday, or if you mean it’s or its). Confirm you’ve been consistent with style (did you use a serial comma in one place, but not in another?). And while you’re checking everything, don’t forget the main idea. Make sure you didn’t miss any points you wanted to address, and that you’ve followed through with what you set out to do.

What else? Feel free to comment with any other tips you have.

 

Write first, edit later

Posted in editing, novels, writing by

If you want to write, just write. Heard this before? It sounds easy, but it can be difficult to get your thoughts down without editing along the way. But writing is a process. Getting the ideas out is the first step; fixing the details should come much later.

November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), which means participants attempt to write 50,000 words of a novel in thirty days. The time period encourages writers to put words—any words—on paper (or screen). It doesn’t have to be the most beautiful prose ever written—the work can be polished later on.

Freewriting can help get these words out. Recently I took a writing course with author Brian Francis. At the beginning of each class, Brian had us write for about fifteen minutes. We weren’t to think too much about what we were producing, and we weren’t to go back and redirect our writing.

I found it a bit difficult at first. My natural inclination is to edit as I write. When I write at home, it’s usually on a computer, and I hit Delete multiple times as I go. It’s so convenient; I do everything from fixing typos to choosing better words to changing the direction entirely. But the problem is it ruins the flow, and it can throw a great idea off track.

I didn’t bring my laptop to Brian’s class. I had a good old-fashioned notebook. I put pen to paper at home, too, but mostly to jot down notes and passing thoughts, not to form full paragraphs.

With paper, it’s not as easy to edit while writing. I did go back to strike out things during these freewriting periods, but it wasn’t as convenient. And when I did cross out something, I could still see what I originally wrote when I read it over. Sometimes I liked my initial work better. It made me wonder how many good ideas I’ve lost to the delete key. I’ll never know.

But I’ll continue to write on my laptop. It’s faster than cursive writing, it doesn’t make my hand cramp up and it’s a lot easier for me to read (my penmanship isn’t fantastic). I just need to write on screen the way I can write on paper: free those ideas, then shape them. Write first, edit later.

The wonderful world of word games

Posted in games by

There’s no doubt about it—word games are popular. And while I’ve yet to download any to my mobile phone, I’ve always been a fan of the non-technological variety.

My parents introduced me and my brother to Hangman when we were quite young. It was a great game to know as kids because it’s so portable. All you need is a pen, paper and at least one other player. It certainly kept the boredom out of the backseat during long car rides.

Dictionary was also popular in our household. This game involves players coming up with fictional definitions for real words. All you need for this game is a few people, paper, pens and a dictionary. We also owned store-bought games, such as Boggle and Scrabble.

Word games have also made popular television shows. I have vivid memories of sipping cherry Coke while watching Wheel of Fortune at my grandparents’ house. I doubt I solved many puzzles when I first started watching, but I understood the concept. I wish I could remember if we witnessed this episode together:

A few years ago, I travelled solo to Paris. I stayed in a non-touristy area where few people spoke English. My French was limited and rusty. I had a phrase book with me, but I wanted to do better than that. So I regularly tuned in to La Roue de la Fortune, France’s version of Wheel of Fortune, in an attempt to improve my French. 

To be honest, I’m not sure it made a huge difference. After all, I was there for only two weeks. But it helped a little bit (and I quite enjoyed watching the cute dog).

There are lots of good reasons to play word games. Maybe you want to build your vocabulary or need help with memorization. Or maybe you just find them fun.

Do you have any favourite word games?

Five Seinfeld moments and what they say about communications

Posted in communications by

Seinfeld was—and still is—one of my favourite television shows. The show “about nothing” often commented on how people communicate. Here are a few Seinfeld moments and what they say about communications.

1. “Yada, yada, yada”

Lesson: Be clear and explicit when you speak. Don’t gloss over details of the story, expecting your audience to know what you mean. If you rely on the other party to figure it out, you’re allowing them to fill in the gaps with their own details.

2. The puffy shirt

Lesson: If you don’t understand something, say so. Many of us will simply nod if we don’t hear or understand what someone is saying. It’s as though we feel it’s impolite to ask the person to speak up or to repeat what they’ve said. But it’s not impolite. And by thoughtlessly nodding, we can set ourselves up for great misunderstandings. So if you don’t understand, don’t nod.

3. The Moops 

Lesson: Remember to pay attention to detail. We all make the occasional typo, but some of these mistakes are worse than others. If you don’t proofread carefully, you could release incorrect information to the rest of the world.

4. The exclamation point

Lesson: Exclamation points are usually not a good idea. Most of the time, they aren’t necessary and overuse can annoy or distract readers. If you really feel an exclamation point is needed to denote excitement or anger in your writing, remember that one is always enough (i.e., “Great!” not “Great!!!!!”).

5. The counter

Lesson: Make eye contact when you’re conversing with someone. Eye contact is important because we get visual cues from each other when we are talking. We can see if the person is interested, bored or if they even heard us correctly in the first place.

Now, I wonder what all those hours of watching Saved by the Bell taught me.

Putting your best words forward

Posted in social media by

“Prose is words in the best order. Poetry is the best words in the best order.” Samuel Taylor Coleridge made this statement well before social media, text messaging or mobile websites existed. But choosing the best words to convey a message is always a smart idea, especially when it comes to online communications.

Reading online involves scanning for keywords. Readers search for terms that catch their interest instead of giving all words equal attention.

With online writing, messages need to be distilled into a headline, a tweet or a Facebook status. Using words that don’t quite mean what you want to say can result in miscommunication, or in reaching an unintended audience.

Here are some words I’d like to eliminate from my own online writing:

Great
I blame my teachers for this one. Well, at least partially. Many of them told me to stop using good to describe things. I somehow exchanged it with great without them noticing it was practically just as meaningless. There’s almost always a better word than great.

Amazing
I have a bad habit of describing things as being amazing when they are not even close to actually being amazing. For instance, a friend will say they had a delicious dinner last night. “Amazing!” I’ll reply, complete with exclamation point. But there’s nothing amazing about it. I am not amazed. Luckily, my penchant for amazing is limited to social media and emails. Still, I’d like to stop using it so frivolously.

Currently
This one doesn’t come up a lot, but it’s usually pointless when it does. Currently and I generally come in contact whenever I set up my out-of-office email alert. For some reason, my instinct is to write “I’m currently away from the office” when “I’m away from the office” will do. It’s sort of a given I’m referring to the present.

Important
Of all the words I’ve listed, important is the one I have the least problem with. I’m not sure it shows up in my writing a lot. The problem is when I do use it, I feel it has little meaning. Maybe I think so many other people overuse important and it’s become a little bit weak. Even significant or essential seem to have more weight.

Love
If I didn’t edit my work, it might look like I loved everything. “I love tea!” “I love Sunday mornings!” “I love my blue cardigan!” But I don’t truly love these things. I do like them quite a bit, but using love so much takes away from the word’s power. I think it’s all right to use love in this context…sometimes. But I don’t want to overdo it.

It annoys me when I see the above words in my writing. I try to catch them before it’s too late, before they are sent into the online world, forever.

But I don’t want to be too hard on myself. All words have a place. It’s just a matter of putting the right words in the right place at the right time. And taking a few extra minutes to read—not scan—before sharing those words with the rest of the world.