There are 321 posts filed in Writing (this is page 1 of 33).
The biggest problem with writing comedy or humour (for me) is trying to be funny. Chances are, when you actually try to be funny you don’t succeed. Humour tends to be impulsive and it works best when it isn’t expected.
The funniest stuff isn’t someone having an accident or getting hurt. Pain and suffering are not funny. Though people will laugh when they are nervous or upset. Is that really the kind of laugh you, as a writer, are looking for?
How do you go about choosing the gender identity/ethnicity/sexuality of your characters?
This quote is about the break between having the dream and living with it. But, you can read so much into a few words.
I’m a fan of writer Ann Patchett, whose book, Truth and Beauty, is one of my favourites. This week, thanks to the website, Brain Pickings, I came across a fantastic Patchett quotation that hit very close to home, especially the last line:
“The journey from the head to hand is perilous and lined with bodies. It is the road on which nearly everyone who wants to write — and many of the people who do write — get lost… Only a few of us are going to be willing to break our own hearts by trading in the living beauty of imagination for the stark disappointment of words.”
The stark disappointment of words is something I know a little too much about. So often the idea in my head, which initially seems so good, falls apart once I begin to try to assemble the words on paper. Suddenly my remarkable idea becomes frustratingly ordinary.
Source: Lindy Mechefske – “the stark disappointment of words” and an easy flourless chocolate truffle cake
This quote makes me think about writers having to kill their babies. That was a quote I read about editing your writing. Your words and phrases being taken out of existence. Deleting unnecessary wordage. Editing.
But, I find in life, the idea of editing things or deleting them, or exterminating… there are lots of good words for it… is an important skill to have. All things but in moderation. If you can master that in life you will save yourself a lot of stress, have more space (physically and mentally) and save money too.
Of course, no one should literally kill babies, or other children. At least let them get to adulthood, or the age of 20, and be guilty of something on the extreme side, first. Its ok to be a little dramatic, just not too literal about it.
Looking for ideas to try as a home business? I found a good list. Some require skills in editing, some lean towards technical knowledge, etc. Technical writing isn’t mentioned. But, indexing was interesting, not something I have heard much about.
Copyediting. This is where fact checking takes place, and where grammatical, stylistic and typographical errors are caught.
Proofreading. This is the last stop for a “finished” piece. The proofreader makes sure the copyediting changes have been properly made and no new errors are created in the process.
Indexing. There are indexing courses available and you can get indexing software.
Developmental editing. A developmental editor works with a manuscript on big-picture things like organization and content issues.
Book doctoring. This is an editorial service provided for manuscripts written by experts. They create a manuscript as best they can and then a book doctor puts it into publishable shape.
Ghost Writing. As a ghost writer, you actually do the research and write the book and someone else’s name is attached as the author.
Copywriting. Also known as business writing, this is writing that promotes a product or a service.
Book writing. Do you have an expertise in something professional, such as accounting or interior decorating? Or personally, like knitting? Why not write a book about it?
Magazine article writing. Magazines and newspapers are a great way to get your writing published before tackling the daunting task of writing a whole book.
Web page content provider. Providing content for a web site is a good way to make some money writing.
I’ve always thought that for a book to be a word-of-mouth success, the reader has to turn the last page and be motivated in that moment to tell someone, “You have to read this!” But to me, that could be just as much because it inspired cathartic, body-shaking sobs as if it left me with a feeling of joyful elation. No matter what, it has to move me in some big, exciting, unusual way—and that, in itself, makes me happy.