Tuesday's Links to Writing & Marketing Blog Posts

WANT TO BE A BETTER WRITER? CUT THESE 7 WORDS

By: Joe Bunting

If you’re reading this, then you want to be a better writer. However, becoming a better writer is elusive, isn’t it? It’s more art than science. There are hundreds of writing rules, thousands of words to know, and millions of possible ways you could write even a simple message.

How do you become a better writer when writing itself is so complicated?

One Writing Rule to Rule Them All

In this article, we’ll discuss seven words you should avoid, but if I had to give you one piece of advice about how to become a better writer, this would be it:

“Be more specific.”

Being more specific is the piece of the writing advice I give to nearly every writer I work with.

Unfortunately, there aren’t seven magical words that you can use to make your writing better.

Instead, these seven vague words are KILLING your writing.

If you want to follow writing rule number one to be more specific, then you need to look out for these seven words. They’re vague and are usually a shortcut to what you’re really trying to say.

Every time you catch yourself writing with any of these, try to find a better (and more specific) way to phrase your message.

A Caveat

The problem with writing about what not to do is that you inevitably do exactly what you’re telling others not to do.

If you catch me using any of these seven words or phrases in this article or elsewhere, you’re welcome to email me angrily, calling me a hypocrite.

Consider, though, that none of us, especially me, have arrived at the summit of editorial perfection.

Also, please remember that writing is still an art, not a science, and the most important rule of art is to break the rules!

The 7 Words and Phrases NOT to Use

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Read the full article HERE!

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If you missed my writing & marketing tweets and retweets yesterday, here they are again:

1. The Write Conversation : Get Your Blog Found with Proper Labels & Tags http://ow.ly/NHvY8
2. ThrillWriting: Nature V. Nurture in Your Characters: Info for Writers http://ow.ly/NHwfu
3. Q is for Questions » Writeonsisters.com http://ow.ly/NHwqs 3 Tips for Writing Questions...
4. Writers On The Move: 26 Reasons a Writer Should Blog - Part 1 http://ow.ly/NHwyQ
5. Shannon A Thompson | You need the world, and the world needs good people. http://ow.ly/NHwGK
6. Researching your Novel Guide | Now Novel http://ow.ly/NHA84
7. Define Your Readers to Gain an Audience | WordServe Water Cooler http://ow.ly/NHAyF
8. How to Create an Index for Your Book in Adobe InDesign — The Book Designer http://ow.ly/NHACI
9. Want to Be a Better Writer? Cut These 7 Words http://ow.ly/NHAM7
10. Branding 101: What’s Your Brand’s Voice? | Jami Gold, Paranormal Author http://ow.ly/NHAQ0
11. How to Write With Your Back Against the Wall | Drew Chial http://ow.ly/NHASX
12. Writer Unboxed » How to Create a Website as a Writer (Without it Costing You Both One Arm and One Leg) http://ow.ly/NHAVr
13. The Yearning to Learn From Our Lives | Jane Friedman http://ow.ly/NHBdw
14. Income, Covers, and Editing: More Fascinating Data About Indie Authors | Alexis Radcliff | Lexirad.com http://ow.ly/NHBlX
15. The PESO model for authors and book promotion – BookBaby http://ow.ly/NHCiz
16. Seriously Write: Tracking Story Threads by Annette M. Irby http://ow.ly/NHEIe

Happy writing and running, Kathy