This is the thread where we’ll all put all the bits of wonderfully helpful life-changing advice we’ve all come across searching for the answer to the great question - What makes a story, and how do I write one? We’ll try to keep it to just writing - publishing etc has its own place, as does software. This one’s for everything from developing plots to writing prose and editing and so forth.
I’ll give the first example of what I like to think is some great advice:
This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word sentences are fine. But several together become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is getting boring. The sound of it drones. It’s like a stuck record. The ear demands some variety. Now listen. I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short sentences. And I use sentences of medium length. And sometimes, when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals—sounds that say listen to this, it is important.
So write with a combination of short, medium, and long sentences. Create a sound that pleases the reader’s ear. Don’t just write words. Write music.
Gary Provost , as quoted in Writing Tools: 50 Essential strategies for Every Writer by Roy Peter Clark.
So let’s have it. After many years, somebody will collate our collective wisdom into a new, shiny thread that we can scroll through for ideas whenever we find ourselves staring at a blank page. And then hopefully get back to writing the best words ever!
“The first draft of anything is shit.” - Ernest Hemingway
I’ll give the first example of what I like to think is some great advice:
This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word sentences are fine. But several together become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is getting boring. The sound of it drones. It’s like a stuck record. The ear demands some variety. Now listen. I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short sentences. And I use sentences of medium length. And sometimes, when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals—sounds that say listen to this, it is important.
So write with a combination of short, medium, and long sentences. Create a sound that pleases the reader’s ear. Don’t just write words. Write music.
Gary Provost , as quoted in Writing Tools: 50 Essential strategies for Every Writer by Roy Peter Clark.
So let’s have it. After many years, somebody will collate our collective wisdom into a new, shiny thread that we can scroll through for ideas whenever we find ourselves staring at a blank page. And then hopefully get back to writing the best words ever!
“The first draft of anything is shit.” - Ernest Hemingway
