Notes on Writing From Writers of Note

Welcome back!

by Philip Yaffe
As I presented myself at social gatherings clock, usually hosts: "Hello, I want you to meet Philip Yaffe. He is a professional writer. "I'm almost always the same answer:" Oh, really. What kind of novels do you write? "In other words, people automatically with the term" writer "with" literature ", as if fiction were the only type of writing. It is not. And for most normal people like me, it is less important, but it always seems to take first place.
Scholastic snobbery has a lot to do.
Almost all secondary schools and many universities require students to take courses in literature. However, hardly anyone these courses varies from a novel, a play, write a script, or any other form of fiction. On the other hand, some schools and universities do not require students during the writing of fiction. But almost everyone needs these skills to create reports, memoranda, letters, marketing plans, business papers and all other types of non-fiction texts for more in life.
Internet searches for quotations about writing almost constantly in the thoughts of writers, poets, playwrights, etc., were again as the only category of fiction writing of any consequence.
I have such research, to cooperate in this article. At first I tended to be disappointed by the results, but on further reflection, they proved quite fortuitous.
I am normally a strong distinction between "creative writing" (fiction) and "explanatory letters (non-fiction). In fact, this difference is the basis of a book that I recently sent a letter on this subject, which I explained how and why such they are very different. However, if the quote from the review it became apparent that feelings and emotions of good writers are remarkably similar in both genders.
Thus, if we are creative (writer of the small minority of us), or argumentative writers (the vast majority of us), we can all learn something in writing of such renowned practitioners.
For simplicity, I have tried to categorize their offers insightful. However, creative writing and writing of the reasons are both activities very unified. Their basic functions are so closely linked that any attempt to separate bound to fail them. Still separate, which aims to help organize our thoughts. So no excuses for any "misclassified" quote, here is what I have to say this prestigious writer.
1. The essence of good writing
Inventor Thomas Edison said "Genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration." In other words, it is hard work. The same goes for writing, both creative and true explanation. This is good news because it means he can inspire even the least among us to write well, if we are willing to devote the necessary energy.
Here are some quotes on the same line.
"A writer is somebody for whom writing is more difficult than for others." – Thomas Mann —
"The secret of good writing is to say old, what does this mean a new way, or something new in an old way." – - Richard Harding Davis
"Good writing is clear thinking made visible." – - Bill Wheeler
"Writers must always ask: What am I trying to say? Surprisingly often, they do not know. "- – William Zinsser
"There are two kinds of writers in the world: improving the poor writers and poets." – - William Blundell
"Every writer I know has trouble writing." – - Joseph Heller
"Good writing is hard work" – - Snoopy (Charles Schulz)
2. Writing as Discovery
"I am very dark when I start to what will happen. I have a very general idea, then the thing develops as I write. "- – Aldous Huxley
"There are thousands of thoughts that a man he did not know until he takes the pen and wrote." – - William Makepeace Thackeray
"The act of writing is the act of discovering what you believe." – - David Hare
"The letter was such a process of discovery that I can not wait to be in the morning to work. I wanted to know what I mean. "- – Sharon O'Brien
"I never know what I think about something until I read what I wrote about it." – - William Faulkner
In other words, if you think you have nothing to say, choose a topic and start writing. You may surprise you.
3. The goals of good writing
"We are cups, constantly and quietly inflates. The trick is how we roll and we let the good things out – - Ray Bradbury
"I am writing because I'm afraid to say a few things out loud" – - Anonymous.
"The art of writing is to provide a framework to establish whether other people in their thinking." – - Edwin Schlossberg
"When I sit at my desk, time seems to disappear. I think it's a wonderful way to spend his life "- – Erica Jong
4. Techniques of Good Writing
"The faster I write the better my output. When I walk slowly, I'm struggling. That means I put the words rather than shooting. – - Raymond Chandler
"Work extra hard at the beginning of history, so it snares readers instantly. And how will you finish your story before you start writing. Without a sense of direction, you can be lost in the middle. "- – Joan Lowery Nixon
"Detail makes the difference between drilling and Great writing. It is the difference between a pencil sketch and an oil painting lush. As a writer, words are your paint. Use all the colors. "- – Rhys Alexander
"What I like a good author is not what it says but what he whispers." – - Logan Pearsall Smith.
"Cut all the exclamation points. An exclamation point is there to laugh at his own jokes. "- – F. Scott Fitzgerald
"Nothing is so simple it will not be misinterpreted – - Teague Jr. will
5. Writing and rewriting
"I'm not a very good writer, but I am a rewriter excellent." – - James Michener
"With imagination, it takes an hour to write a paragraph, if you were unimaginative, one minutes. Or, you could not write the paragraph at all. "- – Franklin P. Adams
"Write your first draft with your heart. Re-write with your head. "- – Anonymous
"The time to start writing an article when you have finished your satisfaction. At this point, you begin to clearly and logically true, what you really want to say. "- – Mark Twain
"I have this [made] letter longer, because I do not have time to make it shorter" – - Blaise Pascal
"I do not have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long dress." – - Mark Twain
Structured in other words, the first draft is almost always too long and bad. To make clear and concise at least a second project needs, and often more. Or short and sweet, with the words:
"The first draft of everything is sh * t" – - Ernest Hemingway
6. Clarity and conciseness
"If something can be read without effort, great effort has continued in his letter." – - Enrique Jardiel Poncela
"Easy reading is terribly difficult to write." – - Nathaniel Hawthorne
"What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure." – - Samuel Johnson
"Resist the temptation to use dazzling style to conceal weakness of the substance."
– - Stanley Schmidt
"Writing is not just understanding. Write that you can not possibly be misunderstood. "- – Robert Louis Stevenson
"The writer is the greater good, which gives readers the knowledge and takes the least time." – - Sydney Smith
7. Style & Words
"" I love writing. I love the swirl and swing of words as they tangle with human emotions. "- – James Michener
"A good style shows no sign of fatigue. What is written should be a happy coincidence seems. "- – W. Somerset Maugham
"You write to the hearts and minds of others what burns inside of you communicate. Edit and let the fire show through the smoke. – - Arthur Polotnik
"Writers should put more emphasis on the sense of a sentence rather than the dictates of the rule book to go." – - James J. Kilpatrick
"Like stones, words hard and unforgiving, and the installation immediately as the laying of stones, demands great patience and strength of purpose and competence." – - Edmund Morrison
"The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a firefly." – - Mark Twain
8. Selfishness Unbound
Few writers can always be cited. I do not know if what I say never remember in a hundred years or even a hundred minutes from now. But for what they are worth, here are some ideas that I have met, developed and believed in more than 40 years.
"Love letter is simple, it requires little thought. Scripture simply is difficult to collect, it takes everything you can imagine – and then some. "
"Just write is a challenge, the possibilities are endless. Once a writer recognizes that adds all the others. "
"Good writing – and speaks so well – only depend on a few basic principles. When you've mastered this, all the tips and techniques for their application almost at hand. "
"Clarity is defined as a quasi-mathematical formula, which included a recipe for effective implementation of it. To be frank, you must do three things:
1. Focus on what is important.
2. To emphasize what is of secondary importance.
3. Eliminating what is not important.
In short: CL = EDE
"can be concisely defined as quasi-mathematical formula, also received a recipe for effective implementation. Be specific, it must be your text as follows:
1. Long as necessary or sufficient to cover all the basic physical characteristics
2. Be brief as possible, ie avoiding all unnecessary words, sentences and paragraphs
In brief: CO = LS
"Clarity and brevity are two sides of same coin. To be clear, it must be brief and precise. Hides unnecessary verbiage, it must be removed. Just to be precise, it must be clear. Only if we know exactly what you want to tell you eliminate the hidden words, sentences and paragraphs. "
"Writing is like cooking. The installation and commissioning of the ingredients together. When the inert liquid begins to stiffen and take shape, you know, you make a cake. For me, the feeling is really physical. "
"Always ask yourself:" Why on earth would show everyone what I write? "If you have at least three good reasons to stop writing and start to make us think. Otherwise, you lose all the time – first theirs. "
"Do not worry lowest common denominator. Not things that your text is easy, but some might argue that it is too hard. Focusing on those who can not understand, they are your true audience. The others are no objections. "
"The basic principles of good writing and speech are rare and easy to understand. Unfortunately, most books on the subject are buried under an avalanche of tips and techniques.
Since I just wrote a book myself, let me conclude with something I wish I would have said, but actually comes from someone else. "In every fat book there is a thin book struggling to get out" – - Anonymous
Amen.
Philip Yaffe is a former reporter / columnist with The Wall Street Journal and marketing communications activities. He currently teaches a course on writing and speaking well in Brussels, Belgium. Recently, his book "In the" I "of the storm: Simple Secrets of Writing & Speaking (almost) as a (pro 84 pages) is Story Publishers in Ghent, Belgium (storypublishers available.) And Amazon ( amazon. com).
For more information please contact:
Philip Yaffe
Brussels, Belgium
Tel: +32 (0) 2 660 0405
Email: phil. Yaffe @ yahoo. com

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