Eeeeeek! I am over the moon to have this fabulous guest post from Marilyn Messik today on my blog! Marilyn and I share a similar sense of humour (guess we are Relatively Strange) and I throughly enjoy reading her posts and the fabulous cards she shares on Facebook ….hmmmm….does that make me Even Stranger? Thankfully, neither of us care and the quirkiness will continue until we can be weird no more!
WORDSWORTH USING AND WORDSWORTH VERY LITTLE!
Everyone needs, from time to time, to string a few sentences together, whether for a novel; short story; web text; blog; speech or promotional piece. Yet, faced with a blank computer screen and the need to create, many of us find ourselves heading in one of two directions. We’re either overwhelmed by total lethargy – unable to manage even an opening sentence, or we suffer an equally alarming attack of verbal diarrhoea. Either condition can be debilitating, disturbing and in the long run, unproductive.
On the lethargy side of things, there’s probably not much advice I can give you other than to gently lean forward, rest your cheek on the keyboard, shut your eyes and hope, when you regain consciousness, inspiration will have struck.
With the verbal diarrhoea, a slightly more proactive approach is required and I’ve jotted down a few thoughts which may or may not be helpful:
• When you’re writing, readers generally don’t have time, patience or inclination to wade through waffle, even if it is exceptionally beautifully written. So once you’ve said what you want to say, edit ruthlessly. Scrutinise each sentence without mercy and if there’s a word you can do without – do without!
• Text whether fiction or fact needs to be, like our own good-selves, lean, keen, immediately understandable, and desirable to as many people as possible.
• Your writing should always be authentic, people buy into you. Your voice is uniquely yours and readers recognise that pretty swiftly. They may like that voice, they may loathe it, but it will always ring truer than if you try and write in the manner of someone else.
Finally, it’s a well-known fact that words are pesky little critters and, like children and animals, can be relied upon to let you down dreadfully at the very moment you most want to look good and showing yourself up is never a good idea.
To keep mistakes, misspellings, omissions and other unfortunate occurrences to a minimum, always allow a good amount of time between typing and checking. And if you really want to be sure your text doesn’t contain any truly dreadful typos, check it backwards. Reading each sentence from the end to the beginning will mean it’s not any making sense, so you’re having to read each word individually and out of context. Time consuming, certainly, brain twisting, definitely; but at least you’ll know you’ve tried your darndest.
About The Author
Marilyn was a regular feature and fiction writer for national magazines when her children were small. She set up her first business selling toys, books and party goods from home, before opening first one shop then another.
When she sold the shops, she moved into the world of travel, focusing on accommodation in New England, USA. Her advisory, planning and booking service flourished and she concurrently launched a publishing company, producing an annual, full-colour accommodation guide. In 2007 she set up a copywriting consultancy, Create Communication to help businesses shape their messages to optimum effect.
She’s been married to her very patient husband for more years than he deserves and they have two children, five grandchildren and, somewhat to their surprise, several grand-dogs. She likes nothing more than hearing from her readers, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Marilyn Messik is the author of the novels, Relatively Strange and Even Stranger as well as the Little Black Business Books series. Her third book Witch Dust will be out later this year.
You can contact Marilyn via the following links!
www.marilynmessik.co.uk
[email protected]
Thank you SO much, Marilyn! Great post and absolutely awesome lady! As a wannabe writer, there are some awesome tips there – and also helpful for blog posts!! Reviewers are RAVING about Marilyn’s books which I have on my TBR and I am DETERMINED to read soon! Click the pics below to grab yourself a copy and see what all the hype is about! Woohoo!
