Beyond The Basics: 5 Ways To Take Your Writing Further

Do you want to take your writing further?

Do you want to take your writing further?

It’s important to learn the basics of writing well, but at some point, you need to add nuance to your words and depth to your message.

Here are five ways to take your writing further.

1. Go deeper into yourself

We are complicated people, you and I. We have depths which no one has yet seen. We have demons roaming in our minds and dark things nestling inside our hearts. The aspects we keep hidden can be the fuel for some powerful writing but mostly, we’re too scared to let them out.

But if you want to take your writing further, you need to mine yourself first. Take your past failures, your fears, your dreams and pour them into your writing. Give of yourself and the words will reward you.

2. Tackle bigger themes

The bite-size internet (and indeed, list posts like this!) means we tend to skim the surface of meaning a lot of the time. There is a tendency to rush content out the door without delving as far into it as we could. There isn’t enough time to debate the deep and meaningful topics in this fast-paced world, right?

But actually, people are crying out for meaning and emotional resonance, and you can give it to them.

When you’re writing, decide on the deeper levels of meaning you want to illustrate. For example, I write action-adventure thrillers which at one level are about hunting down bad guys and blowing stuff up, but I also explore the question of whether there is a God, science vs. faith and whether miracles happen. Writing on two levels gives us a way to connect more powerfully with people.

3. Use free-writing

Free-writing is a short period of time, say 10 minutes, where you write from your own stream of consciousness, or around a specific topic. Don’t censor yourself, because you won’t be sharing the words in this format. Just let your mind and fingers go free.

Some recommend writing by hand as it accesses different parts of the brain, but I don’t think it matters. The important thing is not to stop writing, even if all you write is ‘this is terrible’ over and over again.

Set a timer and just write. When the timer goes off you can go through the text and see if there are any ideas in there you can use. Whatever happens, save the writing, because I guarantee that you’ll go back to it later and be surprised.

4. Copy the greats

Austin Kleon’s book ‘Steal like an Artist’ contains some fantastic advice, and I particularly liked this quote.

Start copying what you love. Copy copy copy. At the end of the copy you will find yourself. ~ Yohji Yamamoto

Find the books you consider great and copy their style. Yes, actually copy their words out by hand or by typing them. You’re not doing this to plagiarize, you’re doing this to learn.

In copying, you will see how great writers approach aspects of writing and you will notice things that you wouldn’t if you just read the words. You can also use this as a jumping off point for free-writing, as above. Riff off their words and create your own. Use their style to expand your writing repertoire.

5. Rest your work for longer

One of Stephen King’s tips in ‘On Writing’ is to put your manuscript away after you have finished it. Print it out and put it in a drawer until you have forgotten enough of it that you can return to it with fresh eyes. Only then are you emotionally removed enough to be able to edit freely.

I believe we should do this with any piece of writing that we want should resonate with an audience, be it a guest blog post, or a letter/email to a loved one.

When you take the writing out again, you can edit but also add layers to the work around the themes you want to illustrate. You can make the work richer and more resonant. You can refine your word choice. This will make the writing stronger and you will have put more of yourself into it.

So take the challenge and go deeper into your writing craft. You will see the benefits in your own artist’s journey and your readers will thank you for it.

How do you go deeper into your writing? Please do share in the comments below.

About The Author:
Joanna Penn is the Amazon bestselling author of the ARKANE thrillers, Pentecost, Prophecy and Exodus. Her site for writers www.TheCreativePenn.com has been voted one of the Top 10 Blogs for Writers 3 years running and offers articles, audio and video on writing, publishing and book marketing, plus the free Author 2.0 Blueprint.

Image: Woman running courtesy of Bigstockphoto.com

5 Steps to Telling Engaging Stories on Your Blog

how to tell stories on your blogThe best bloggers on the planet do three things very well. I call them the 3 E’s.

The first two, educate and engage, are the easiest to master. But the third E, entertain, is the one that will set a blogger apart from the masses.

The best way to entertain, to keep your reader glued to your page, is to tell a story.

What makes a good story?

The famed writer Flannery O’Connor said that a story is ‘a full action with a point.’ What better way to describe a blog post, too? In their most basic form, both a story and a blog post must have something happening and both must end with a point.

I’ve been reading Victoria Mixon’s groundbreaking book, The Art & Craft of Story. While she is talking to writers of fiction, what she says is just as true for bloggers. Her message is this: You are unique. Your history, your life experiences are unlike any other person’s in the world. And looking at your own life will teach you how to tell unique stories.

That’s powerful stuff. If you turn the camera on yourself, could you possibly have ways of looking at an issue or problem that that next blogger can’t duplicate? Could your life experiences relate to a post topic in story form, in a way that drives your point home in a unique and entertaining way?

How to tell an engaging story on your blog

1. Figure out your theme.

What is the one thing you are trying to say? What one thing will apply to all of your readers, regardless of their backgrounds and experiences? The theme is the point of your post. Write it on a sticky note, put it on your computer monitor and keep it front and center with each word you write.

2. Pull them in with an engaging hook.

Your headline and opening paragraph are your hook. Picture your reader browsing in Barnes and Noble. She opens to the first page and reads the first sentence. Will she read the next one (or buy the book)? Or will she put the book down, never to return?

You want your reader to think, “What’s going on here? I must find out!” There are many strategies for this, but making your reader curious or surprised with your headline and hook is one of the best.

Example of a Headline: Why I’m Dumping the Cat’s Eye Writer Blog

If you are a regular reader of the Cat’s Eye blog, this would make you sit up. Is she really quitting blogging? Why? This post prepared readers for my transition from Cat’s Eye Writer to my newly branded Judy Lee Dunn author blog.

Example of a Hook: The other day I unfollowed someone on Twitter. At first glance, we appeared to have lots in common. He’s a writer, I’m a writer. I thought I could learn some new things from him. But then election season hit.

What did election season have to do with anything? I wanted my reader to stay on the page to find out.

3. Paint a setting and introduce characters we will care about.

The character can make or break your post. Make it someone we can emotionally invest in, someone we will care about. Sometimes the character will be you. Other times, you will want to plunk the reader down in the story with you.

Example of a Character in a Setting: There are small towns. There are rural areas. And then there are islands. Islands that have no bridges, only ferries.

Ferries that blow their horns on foggy days. That break down at the worst possible  moment, usually when you have an important meeting with a new client. Ferries that will take you back home if you show up before the last one leaves the dock, at 7:30pm sharp.

When you arrive just 10 seconds late, the ferry workers in bright orange vests are pulling the thick ropes in and locking the gate. And you are stuck on the mainland, cursing that ‘careful’ driver who chugged along at 16 miles an hour all the way along the tree-lined road that leads to the ferry landing.

You would have made it if not for her.

This was a lead-in to a guest post I wrote for Becky McCray’s Small Town Survival blog. I was setting readers up for the challenges of operating a business in a remote location and figuring out how to make it work. I wanted the reader to be right there with me.

4. Set up your conflict (also known as your plot).

This is your problem. What are you helping the reader to solve? It should be a question your reader is itching to know the answer to. This is the part where something happens. Tell us a story about a problem you have had—one that you weren’t sure how to solve.

In this post, Google Said I Died: Will That Be Bad for Business?, the problem was how to control your online reputation when other people with the same name as yours are being talked about on the Web. As the story unfolds, I am at my computer. A Google Alert lands in my in-box, with a link to Judy Dunn’s obituary. So the conflict is this: What happens when a news story about another Judy Dunn hits the Web?:

Example of Conflict: Sometimes a Google Alert comes in that wakes you up. Like last Wednesday, when I found out I had died. It was kind of weird because I wasn’t really expecting it. I was just reading along and, bam, there it was: my death notice.

5. End with a climax and resolution that shows the choice your character made.

This is where you reach the point of your whole story—how it ends and what that means for the reader. The best characters go through a change and make a new choice. So by the time you end your post, you should leave your readers with how and why you changed your mind, your opinion, or your way of thinking or feeling about something.

Using the Google Said I Died example again, I end with the resolution of the problem. I show the steps I took to manage my online reputation so I could be sure that the good stuff I was doing online came up higher in search engine rankings than the other Judy Dunn’s:

Example of a Climax/Resolution: If you are a solopreneur or small biz owner and people relate to your name, rather than your business, it makes sense to keep an eye on the places you are appearing on the Web. You may not have died, like I did, but one of your name-alikes might have done something truly dreadful, like embezzling the company receipts or breaking into a family’s house and drinking all their Scotch. Here are some things you can do to separate yourself from them:…

What about you?

Do you ever tell stories on your blog?

Do you think that a good story draws the reader in and helps them remember your post?

What kinds of stories could you tell on your blog?

Let us know in the comments what your experience has been with telling stories in blog posts.

A guest post by Judy Lee Dunn, owner of Cat’s Eye Writer. Subscribe to her Judy Lee Dunn blog for writers and get a free report: 30 Design and Content Secrets to Skyrocket Your Blog.

The Definitive Guide to Successful Online Writing

Do you ever think about giving up on writing?

On some days does being a writer just feel like a big struggle?

This is a normal reaction.

We live in a fast, information-filled world that bombards us with a constant stream of technology. We’re told about countless things we “must” do in order to succeed as a writer.

It’s overwhelming.

You may find yourself wondering…

a) is writing the right choice for me?
b) do I even have the writing skills necessary to “make it?”
c) what do I really need to know about writing to succeed?

Well, guess what?

The Write Guide for a Stumble-free Path to Success will point you in the right direction so you can pick yourself, stop second guessing yourself, and get you moving onto a smoother writing path to success.

Read on to learn how.

Every topic in this post will give you an important piece of the writing puzzle. Put them all together and you will have the complete view of what you need to succeed as a writer.

This guide gives you clear steps, insight, and beneficial ideas, that help you understand your strengths as a writer. Plus, you will learn some of the most important skills for writing in today’s world so you don’t have to waste anymore time going off your path.

And there’s more. This guide gives you personal attention. We are all different, so generic advice just doesn’t cut it. That’s why The Write Guide for a Stumble-free Path to Success is designed to help you discover what’s important to you personally, as well as just how you can keep yourself intact while navigating through the Internet writing jungle.

All the articles we link to in each chapter provides information that is easy to grasp, straightforward, and unmissably useful.

Are you ready to stop stumbling and start moving smoothly?

Okay. Let’s do it!

Introducing:

The Write Guide for a Stumble-free Path to Success

You may use this guide by clicking on any of the chapter links below to jump straight to a topic or you might choose to start at the beginning and read through to the end.

Chapter 1. Your Personal Writing Road
Chapter 2. Your Writing Kickstart
Chapter 3. Online Writing that Works
Chapter 4. Blogging Essentials
Chapter 5. Get it Done
Chapter 6. Keeping the You in Your Writing
Chapter 7. Bonus – Notch Up Your Creativity

Chapter 1. Your Personal Writing Road

To know if you are a successful writer you must have a personal definition of what success is and it’s important to know where your specific strengths lie. The tips and information in this chapter will help you with this.

Chapter 2. Your Writing Kickstart

As a writer, sometimes you need a kickstart or some secret insights to rev yourself up so you can keep moving on your path to success. Use the topics in this chapter to get your writing engine going.

Chapter 3. Online Writing that Works

Here are your simple tips and methods for writing in today’s world so no more unexpected pitfalls. These ideas work, are easy to use, and will help give you the confidence you need to stay on your writing journey.

Chapter 4. Blogging Essentials

Most writers today who are trying to succeed online, at one point or another, are also bloggers, or at least contribute to other blogs. Here are the essentials you need to you can write content that generates traffic, readers, and conversions or sales.

Chapter 5. Get it Done

Writers often have so many creative ideas in their head they either feel blank, don’t know where to begin, or get so scattered they don’t complete projects. Use the following information to get your writing done.

Chapter 6. Keeping the You in Your Writing

Don’t lose yourself in the writing jungle. It’s important to keep your ideas intact because your unique voice is what the world most needs from you as a writer.

Chapter 7. Bonus – Notch Up Your Creativity

Every writer, newbie or seasoned, needs a creative boost now and then. Feel free to use the ideas in this chapter whenever you need them.

Your writing path does not have to be such a struggle. Let this resource ease you past the potential pitfalls so that your writing journey will be long, prosperous, and filled with joy.

What aspect of writing are you struggling with? Let us know in the comments below.

A guest post by Karen Daniels, topselling amazon author and online writing coach who blogs at zencopy.com. Check out her free Authors Writing and Branding Resource.

The Pros and Cons of Comparing Yourself to Other Writers

A guest post by K.M. Weiland of Wordplay: Helping Writers Become Authors

With the advent of writing communities on such networking sites as Twitter and Facebook and half a thousand forums and Nings, writers are perhaps more social and less solitary than at any time in our history.

This brings its fair share of both benefits and drawbacks, since our easy access to other writers—both those who are striving to be published and those who have a dozen bestsellers under their belts—causes inevitable comparisons.

Are we as good as they are?

Are they as good as we are?

Let’s explore what we can gain from answering these questions, as well as the pitfalls to avoid.

Cons

Jealousy: Easily, the most destructive con of comparison is that of jealousy. Sometimes this jealousy is the simple result of having read a book that spun its tale with such gossamer characters and seamless themes that we were left astonished.

We look at this brilliant author’s perfect prose, and we hate them just because they’re so much better than us. Or perhaps a writing buddy has just nailed a plum contract with the Agent of the Year. What did she do to deserve that honor, especially when—let’s be honest here—her writing leaves a lot to be desired compared to ours?

Jealousy is a flaw common to the vast majority of writers (due largely to the next con on our list), but it’s one that gets us exactly nowhere. The sooner we can stand up to our feelings of jealousy, put them behind us, and work toward being genuinely happy for our fellow writers, the more content and the more productive we’ll be.

Because, let’s face it, there’s always someone who’s better, richer, or luckier than we are. Jealousy is a never-ending melodrama of pain and pettiness.

Inferiority: Perhaps the reason jealousy is so prevalent among authors is that it almost always follows on the heels of its kissing cousin: inferiority. Very few writers are able to maintain perfect confidence in their skill.

When we run across a writer whose prose is more effortless than ours, whose characters are more realistic, whose paychecks are larger, and whose accolades are louder, we can’t help but compare. And when we find ourselves wanting, we either want to plot laborious and exhaustive murder for the object of our comparison, or we want to crumple in a corner and bawl at our general wretchedness. Sometimes both.

In one sense, this chronic inferiority complex is actually a positive thing, since it keeps us honest. As Orson Scott Card put it in How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy, “Writers have to simultaneously believe the following two things: The story I am now working on is the greatest work of genius ever written in English. The story I am now working on is worthless drivel.”

Maintaining humility in our work is crucial to our genuineness as artists. But we can’t take this too far. We have to be able to reach a place of objectivity from which we can honestly compare our work to other writers, glean what we can from that comparison, or, if there’s simply nothing to be gained (as would be the case if we, say, compared the latest advance on our books to Stephen King’s), shrug it off as the inconsequentiality it is.

Pros

Inspiration: Comparing ourselves to other writers isn’t all bad. So long as we keep the downfalls in mind and are prepared to avoid them, we can actually gain a number of benefits from considering our fellow writers and how we measure up against them.

Honestly, can you imagine living entirely segregated from writerkind?

That would mean no books to read.
No fellow crazies to understand our quirks and obsessions.
No writerly energy to feed off.

We gain our inspiration from the art of others, from hearing about our writing buddies’ struggles, and from bouncing ideas back and forth.

If I were to write a thank you note to every author I’ve read, loved, and inevitably compared myself too, I probably wouldn’t have time to finish my next novel. Because most of us write the kind of books we enjoy reading, we are constantly reading books that are similar to our own. We recognize similar elements, compare them, and learn how to improve our own characters, plot, and prose as a result.

It’s a win-win situation, because who’s to say our mentors may not someday read one of our stories and find some similarity that brings that next epiphany to their writing?

Motivation: Once we get over the crumpling and crying brought on by our sense of inferiority in comparing ourselves to great writers, our next step is to rise from the ashes, pen in hand, motivated to blot out the very reason for our inferiority. The brilliance of this other author isn’t a boulder to crush us; it’s a mountain to scale.

Perhaps today we’re not good enough to be mentioned in the same breath with our heroes, but, you know what? If they can do it, so can we!

Reading great writers and comparing their brilliant stories to my own has been one of the single greatest factors in motivating me to keep writing, keep learning, keep trying. Nothing is more exciting to the dedicated writer than reading good fiction. Good stories excite us and drive us forward. We close the covers on a good book, and the first thing we want to do (after buying the sequel) is run to our keyboards and funnel all that inspiration and motivation into our own writing.

As with so many things in the writing life, successfully comparing ourselves to other writers is all about balance. If we can tamp a lid on the cons and embrace the pros, we can use the success of our fellows to launch ourselves to even greater heights.

It should be the goal of every writer to be comparison worthy. Hearing someone say, “I wish I could write as well you,” isn’t only the highest of compliments, it’s also a sign you’re giving back to the writing community the benefits you drew from it yourself.

About the Author: K.M. Weiland is the author of the historical western A Man Called Outlaw and the medieval epic Behold the Dawn. She enjoys mentoring other authors through her writing tips, her book Outlining Your Novel: Map Your Way to Success, and her instructional CD Conquering Writer’s Block and Summoning Inspiration.
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The Ultimate 15 point Checklist to Make Your Writing Come Alive

Make your writing come alive

A guest post by Marya Zainab of Writing Happiness.

So you have defeated all the noises that play havoc inside your head, and finally put down something on paper – you have written a piece.

First of all, a big congratulations to you. First drafts are often the easiest to write provided you have understood them for what they are; just the first drafts – the initial write up. You will have many of them.

According to Natalie Goldberg of Bird by Bird and Writing Down the Bones, they are almost always shitty and you don’t know what your finished piece looks like – yet. But that’s ok, because now the real work of writing starts.

Gather your draft and start editing. This is where craft and structure begin.

#1 Read Aloud

Read the text aloud to yourself. You will discover many inconsistencies in your writing that you will not be able to discover otherwise.

Sometimes, your writing will feel jittery and you may stumble over words. Make a note of it all. Aim to read it without watching it fall flat.

Read each piece at least once, listening for crazy sentences. Rewrite more by simply saying out loud what you are really trying to say.

#2 Read for Voice

Have you found your voice yet, or are you still working on it? Either way, read your draft to see if it sounds like you.

Can your voice be heard? Does your writing resonate with the sound of your voice? Can your reader guess it might be you who have written the post? If not, rewrite to let your personality shine through.

A strong voice will add authenticity to your work. Choose your words carefully and soulfully. Readers always appreciate this quality in writing.

#3 Keep Your Readers in Mind

Who have you written this piece for? Imagine them when you are reading it again.

Is your language appropriate? Have you confused or patronized them, appeared sexist? Have you said anything that might not sit well with your audience?

You want to be considerate of your audience – neither appearing to be snobbish, nor talking to them like you would to a child. Show your respect for your readers.

Keeping their faces in mind, change any sections that you have doubts about.

#4 Is your Lead Right?

Is your lead like bait that will pull your readers in or something that would repel them?

When you are writing a narrative, you are telling a story. Your beginning needs to pull the reader in. Let your reader know what your piece is about.

Clue them in early so they know exactly what to expect. They need to go through the experience with you. If kept in the dark for long, they might lose interest quickly and drift away. Provide them with details that will invoke their interest in the topic.

#5 Is Your Conclusion Right?

What is the point to your writing?

Through your insights or your take on something, the reader can connect with the experience you write about. The ending needs to bring them some understanding and insight, or lead to a slight shift in awareness. If your writing doesn’t do anything like that, you need to revisit its purpose.

You need a beginning, a middle and an end – its that simple. Pay attention to your ending, you must get it right. If you are not happy with it, rework it.

#6 Smooth Out Changes in Tone

Your tone is your attitude towards the topic, reader and yourself. It is impossible to write without a tone – it is apparent in the selection of your words.

Your voice, tone and structure will emerge as you write. It’s impossible to do that in your head. You have to have a first draft in front of you to begin your critique. Only by writing, you will be able to figure out what works and what doesn’t.

Read again to see if there are any many clashes in tone. Decide on the dominant one and keep it constant throughout. Make sure your writing maintains a consistent tone.

#7 Use Verb Contractions

If your tone allows it, if the rhythm permits it, use contractions to lighten your prose. Instead of saying ‘You were not even listening, say you weren’t even listening to me. Replace I will come with I’ll come and so on.

#8 Look at Paragraphs Again

Does your paragraph have a topic sentence that supports one point for the whole paragraph?

Each paragraph should be a series of sentences exploring one main idea. Every sentence should relate to that main point. New thought? Start another one.

Your paragraphs should connect with each other in a logical, seamless flow. Use transitions to logically connect one paragraph to another.

Vary the length of your paragraphs to make them more interesting.

#9 Vary Length of Sentences

Have you varied the length of your sentences? Give your reader’s mind and eye a rest by doing that. Split long sentences into two to make them reader friendly.

#10 Fix Run-on Sentences

A run-on sentence is not necessarily one that goes on and on. It is perfectly fine to craft long sentences.

A run-on sentence is when two or more clauses (complete meanings) are joined by a comma instead of being separated by a full stop. You can also use a conjunction to connect the clauses.

I went to a party, I was really exhausted. This is a run on sentence, it has two complete ideas.
I went to a party. Afterwards, I was really exhausted. Or
I went to a party but I was really exhausted afterwards. Both are correct.

Get rid of any run-on sentences and excessive commas. Use full stops more boldly. Could you improve your sentences by restructuring them?

#11 Get Rid of Clichés

Cliches are sprinkled in to make your writing feel professional, often it does the opposite.

The only thing that your writing needs is that it is honest and specific. You don’t have to use fancy, clever or literary language.

Instead of using cliches, aim to write to surprise your reader. Say something unexpected, use humour and delight them, and enjoy yourself in the process.

#12 Use Exclamation Marks Sparingly

You need emotion in your writing: anger, grief, frustration, embarrassment, fear, love are all that makes it interesting. However, don’t try to bring attention to them by using exclamation marks. Use strong, vivid words to communicate that instead.

A sentence that falls flat without using an exclamation mark, is a flat sentence. It should have the same impact, even when you take the exclamation mark away.

#13 Check for Qualifiers

Check your use of adjectives and qualifiers (words that precede qualifiers) such as very, little, quite, rather, just, indeed etc.

Use strong words, use them with authority.

#14 Eliminate Unnecessary Words

We use thousands of unnecessary words in our writing. Go back and revise, cut everything that you can without affecting the meaning and the message in your piece. If you won’t notice its gone, remove it.

Every single word must pull its weight. Tighten your prose. Eliminate repetitious information.

#15 Proofread

Finally, proofread. Make any last minute corrections.

Give it at least twenty four hours. Its handy to change the font, size or colour when you do. The text will feel fresh, like you are reading it for the first time.

Many people still rush through this stage and inevitably end up with typos and other mistakes in their writing. Be thorough, use a spell-check.

You know you are done, when you have done the best you can. Relax, and be proud.

Which aspect of editing do you dread the most? What excites you? Share you best editing and revision tips in the comments below.

Marya is a communicator of ideas, exploring the human face of blogging. She offers quirky insights into personal development for bloggers. Catch more of her posts at Writing Happiness. For practical tips and inspiration, read Give Your Blog a Complete Makeoever – 18 Action Steps to the Path of Blogging Success.

Join Leo Babauta and Mary Jaksch in their spectacular training environment for bloggers: the A-List Blogger Club.