As an academic writer first and foremost, I have encountered several pieces of advice for how best to make my writing accessible to the layperson. Some tips are obvious, such as not using jargon. However, the best piece of advice was presented to me by a Professor on my undergraduate course, a recommendation I use not only in my non-academic writing, but also in my scientific communications: Keep it simple!

Writers all too often wish to show off their intelligence by using complex language and  assuming a certain amount of knowledge from their readers. They think that by ‘impressing’ their reader in such a way, they will appear as superior intellects. However, all this does is alienate their audience.

The trick with non-fiction writing is not to make YOU appear intelligent, but to make the reader feel that THEY are intelligent. By explaining complicated matters in a simple, easy to read manner, the reader will grasp the concept and come away from the experience feeling better about themselves and you as a writer. I experience this all the time when reading certain popular science books on Quantum Physics. Pick up any book by Brian Greene, or Michio Kaku, and they will make you feel like you are an expert in the impossible. Richard Dawkins is also another excellent proponent of this method. They don’t shy away from using simpler language and concepts to portray their message.

A lot of writers when presented with this advice do not wish to ‘dumb-down’ their writing; they still cling to their desire to use complex language and terminology, as they fear that not doing so will make them look like incompetent writers. They feel that they have to use long, rarely encountered words in order to demonstrate how educated and eloquent they are as writers; all they accomplish, however, is to annoy the reader, bored with constantly reaching for the dictionary.

So, whether you are writing fiction or non-fiction, keep it simple! Your reader will thank you.

Have you ever sat down and wrote 12 pages of a story and said “Okay now what? Where do we go from here? Your characters have been telling you their story loud and clear but after while their story comes to a complete halt and your characters are silent. You are experiencing what is common to many writers – the cursed writers block.

For years and years, I fought Writer’s block.  I would ambitiously start a project and  never finish it. This was not getting me anywhere. I didn’t understand what my problem was.  I thought maybe I wasn’t cut out to be a novelist. Partially out of fear and insecurity, I let my dream sit on the shelf.

A few years later, after the birth of my second son, my dream broke its silence. “Its time.” It whispered to me. “Its time to make your dream a reality.”

I started reading through many of my uncompleted works, trying to find an answer to why I had never completed them. My answer soon became clear. I would write everything I could on the story – but then I would simply lose direction. Has this happened to you?

I began to look to my many writing books for answers to how to write the book from start to finish… one key element stood out for me OUTLINE.  Maybe that is what my problem was. I would write and write until I lost interest in the story.  I decided to make another attempt to write something. This time I decided to try outlining before I wrote the story.

I had an idea for a book for children. It was a beginners novel.  So the first thing I did was jot down ideas for the book – brainstorming. Once I had some good ideas from the brain storming. I began to Outline the story.

With the outline I included the cast of characters with a brief description about them.  Then I wrote the story in abbreviated form. It is important when writing to know where the story is headed.  Once I completed the outline, I went to work on writing the story. For three weeks I wrote solely on this project and for the very first time wrote a complete story.

From that time on when I start a story the first thing I do is brainstorm and write an abbreviated version of the story.  Once I have the story written, I will add the padding including the details, and back stories etc. Very often my outlines are multiple pages long depending upon the length of the piece.

I keep this handy little list, I made up using the word OUTLINE to remind me what I need to include in the outline.

O- opening line,

U – understanding character motivation,

T- tell the story,

L- list the characters

I- information needed (research)

N- nothing but the bones

E- ending.

What techniques do you use when you write? Do you write freehand? Do you outline? Please tell us.

With the busy time of the Christmas season upon us, I won’t be writing again until the New Year. Wishing you and your families a very joyous Christmas and a happy New Year 2010.

Allison

I volunteered; I sure did, without so much as a thought of,  what if I can’t think of what to write or scarier still, what if people don’t like what I write? Naw, I didn’t think of that, not until I actually sold my idea to Damienb. Now I must follow through. This isn’t exactly Face Book either where I can count on family and friends to like whatever I write, but then who ever got to be a paid writer by writing just for family and friends? Nobody that’s who! So I will swallow my pride and all my fear here and just plunge right ahead.

I have actually been writing most of my life. Even as a child, to placate my younger sisters, I would make up elaborate stories to tell them as they lay huddled together in the bed next to mine. To this very day if someone says, “tell me a story” I am apt to try. So here I am on the Newbie Writers Blog site to impart some bits {and believe me they will only be bits here} of wisdom that I learn along the way to becoming a published, paid writer.

I am fascinated lately it seems, with commas. Have you ever gotten hung up writing some thing and couldn’t figure out if a comma belonged to that sentence and if so why and if not, why not? No? Well maybe I am a little weird but there is quite a bit written on the subject of commas. Take for instance “The Little Book”. Never heard of it? Oh, I’ll bet you have, it is otherwise known as “ The Elements of Style” by William Strunk and E. B. White. I found this book a few years back when taking a paralegal course. I keep it in the bathroom and read it over and over again.

The Elements of Style privately published by the author, an English professor, in 1919 and later collaborated on and added to his “little “ book was E. B. White of Charlottes Web fame. In their book Strunk & White imparts a compendium of rules and principles of writing. I scan this little book almost daily it seems to check on the usage of a verb or noun, and of course the comma and its use has been addressed here as well.

The quest to find the correct usage of commas led me to other resources as well, like the piece written on the subject by Dawn Copeman. In her article Dawn tells the reader/writer the many nuances of the plain old comma. She teaches that the comma can be used in many ways, and if you notice, this little blog has a bunch of commas running through it.

The comma, can for instance, be used as a “serial” comma separating a number of items one from the other. An example of this would be; the clown ran through the tent and the elephant, the monkey, the big cat and the giraffe followed too.

There are numerous rules about commas when to use them and when not to, and if I were writing a paper for a classroom there would be much more written on this subject, but this is just a blog and I am only trying to write about what I am learning as I teach myself to write.

I have used commas in this blog for emphasis, for separating a list of things and I have not used a comma to enclose a parenthetic expression in the second paragraph of this piece.

I hope that you have made it to this point in my blog this morning and that the information imparted here is helpful. As for me, I will be writing my little heart out here, now that I have finally come to the point in my life where I actually have “time” to write, may I learn to do it well.