Write Like Your Brain Works: A book to help writers....

Valerie J. Steimle

When I read the title of that book, my first thought I had was that writing like my brain works would not necessarily be a good thing... My brain doesn't always think as it should and I can't always guarantee good works to come out of it.

But the title intrigued me and I downloaded the book onto my kindle. This non-fiction book is by Dene Low (who is a women and has a B.A. in literature, an M.A. in creative writing, and a Ph.D. in rhetoric and composition, whew!). She also writes novels as well.

 The information in this book helps writers to become better at their craft through her knowledge of what makes a better writer and then contains writing exercises to keep you in practice.

I'm already past chapter one so I wanted to talk about what I learned so far:

Whether it's a novel, article, short story or children's book remember these helpful hits when writing:

1.  Know your intended audience: Find a notebook to write down your thoughts in a place where you can refer to it later. Write all that you know about your intended audience.  What do you know about them and what do you think they would like  to read? It is important to know who your audience is otherwise writing becomes mundane and incoherent.

2. Know your purpose in writing: What is your purpose in writing what you write?  Why even bother to write at all? Do you have a passion about telling stories? As writers we must know our purpose and write it down in our notebook.

3. Know the context of your work: What is the model that rules your world? In each of your writing projects you should remember what rules are most appropriate for your creations. Writers can evaluate available options and use what they consider the most appropriate aspect of every part of their writing. When we write something out of place, it can ruin the effect we are trying to create.  You wouldn't have Luke Skywalker not aspire to be a Jedi--that is not an appropriate ideal in the Star Wars world. Think through your story for the best context.


4. Write down experiences: One suggestion to help us with writing ideas is to keep a notebook of what we experience during our day to day activity. You might not use all of them but then again you might find them very useful. Dene Low gives several examples of what she has written but I have one of my own to share which I did write about in my journal:

My husband and I were invited to the wedding of some very good friends of ours. We knew both the bride and the groom and this wedding was to be at someone's home.  It was the second wedding for both and we were looking forward in sharing their happiness.  We arrived at a reasonable time before the wedding and were milling around visiting with the other guests. I talked with both bride and groom and then it was getting close to the time of the wedding to begin. We waited, and waited and waited some more.... The bride was not coming out of her dressing room.  Visions of "Runaway Bride" ran through my head but I dispelled those as her daughter was going in and out of the dressing room talking to others. I'm sure the bride was still in there. 

I started to worry and we waited longer.  It was almost 2 hours later while we were waiting and everyone was getting really hungry.  No one wanted to eat yet because the wedding hadn't happened yet. Then one of the guys we knew who was a friend of the groom came up to me and said, "Hey- I have a great idea!"  Let's all stand around the cake table and on the count of three, charge towards the cake and start eating..." I had to keep from laughing my head off.  It was a funny idea and the vision I had was even funnier.

Of course we didn't do that but the bride gave the caterers permission to start passing out food to everyone so we could eat... They did marry eventually but it was one of the funniest weddings I had ever attended. (I think the delay was due to her getting cold feet.)

Now that is a story I could use in one of my books somewhere I'm sure.

5. Persuade your readers to experience what you want them to in your writings: Appeal to reason, facts, data and logic which will convince the audience about the truth of your assertions in your writings. Making sense is an important part of persuading your readers to your world. Always show positive influence even through challenging periods. Write about overcoming life's most difficult problems.

There is so much more information in this book which will help all writers to improve their writing. This helpful writer's book is a great addition to your writer's collection and will have readers begging you for more books. But you'll just have to download the book to study it yourself.

Here is the link: Write Like Your Brain Works

Article ReWrites....

As a non-fiction writer, I'm always looking for ways to improve my article writing.... I write for several online websites and I've gotten to the point where I can get an 800 word article, essay, opinion piece or book review off in a day.  It has taken me at least 10 years to accomplish this feat and I'm still working towards perfection.

As I scanned my list of writer's tips I came across this gem but I can't remember where I got it....

I'm sure it was some website and I normally include the original place but this time it was not marked.  I think what I did was read the original article and took notes from what I learned so here it is.....

I have used almost all of these ideas to write my non-fiction pieces and they work wonderfully for fiction as well as non-fiction.

A List of Nine Strategies to Rewrite an Article

1. Write earlier. This teaches you what you already know and what you need to know. When I begged for more time on a story it was usually because I felt I needed more time to report, to understand the subject. "I need a couple more hours/days/weeks," I'd tell my editor. When I started drafting earlier, I began to see that the hole I needed to fill was already complete, but there are other gaps I wouldn't have recognized as quickly.  Revision doesn't mean more time, but rescheduling the time you have. Let's face it. Whatever time we have for a story most of us spend the bulk of reporting. After all, we're reporters. But there are ways to build in revision earlier in the process.

2. Hit the print button as early as possible. Computers are wonderful, but they give the illusion of perfection. To revise this column, I made a printout of the first draft, approximately 1,000 words written in less than an hour over two days. I began by crossing things out, penning in questions, examining the prose (which sentences held up, which need re-tooling, etc.). Then I read back over my revised version and made more corrections until it was perfect.... or near to perfection as I could get.

3. Put it away. John Fowles, the British novelist ("French Lieutenant’s Woman"), described drafting as much as 60,000 words and then putting them in a desk drawer for a few months. Nice work, I can hear the journalists out there muttering, if you can get it. Few working writers, especially those under daily or even weekly deadlines, have that freedom. But any attempt to put a story out of your mind will give your unconscious mind the chance to work on it. The idea of putting away your writing is works amazingly but most non-fiction article writers do not have the luxury of a few months.  I give this an hour, maybe six hours or even 24 if you have the time but it never fails...if I put it away, I always catch something I had not seen before and more ideas come into my head for a rewrite.  Giving the writing a rest does wonders to your brain and fantastic ideas come after some time away.

4. Break revision into manageable tasks. To me this is a no-brainer. Sometimes the sheer enormity of revisions is so overwhelming it makes my head spin. Make separate printouts — one for names and titles, another for verb constructions, a third to trim the fat from quotes helps enormously in keeping yourself on target for a finished product.

5. Read aloud. Listen to your story and you can hear where it flags, where a quote runs on or echoes the previous phrase (The mayor said he's dissatisfied with the council's action. "I'm just not satisfied," Mayor Naughton said). I read out loud to myself all the time!!!! Sometimes my children ask me who I'm talking to.  This idea is a great one for catching mistakes and rewriting sentences.

6. Diagnose, then treat. As you read, make quick notes ("cut," "move up?" "boring?" "stronger evidence?") Then go back and make the necessary changes. I once read that many writers will use different marks from the keyboard and colored text markings to go back and fix after reading through the entire piece first.  I have done this as well and the notes help to keep your ideas on target.

7. Test your story against your focus. If it's about a young woman's fight against cerebral palsy, why does it begin with an anecdote about her grandfather's experiences in the California gold rush?  Keep the focus on what is the main thrust of your piece. What drives your article and what questions does it answer? This is all very important.

8. Find a first reader. Editors are our first readers--and our last line of defense. Show your draft to an editor--or a colleague. Ask them to tell you what works and what needs work. Ask for a movie of their reading. Better to turn in something to an editor that we know isn't perfect with an eye to finding the promise and the pitfalls in it and the path to a clear, concise, readable story than letting the whole world see our mistakes. My editors have done wonders with some of my work and I trust them to help me improve my writing. 

9. Develop patience. When I begin to write, the ideas often flow in a flood, leaving the landscape obscured by mountains of impenetrable mass, uprooted trees, houses and everything else in its path. Instead of a tidy piece of prose, what I have is a mess that makes my spirits droop. I wanted it to be so good and instead it seems so bad that I fear I can never get it to  the point where anybody else would want to read it. I have to keep telling myself it will come if I keep at it and it does. I cut paragraphs, reword sentences, change my focus because sometimes my brain puts out ideas faster than I can handle and I have to keep my focus.  But with practice and patience, you can become a pro and write for newspapers, websites and blogs....