Tag: writing tip

Warning: Do You Know that Your Paragraphs are Not Good Enough?Warning: Do You Know that Your Paragraphs are Not Good Enough?

February 4, 2013February 4, 2013| Idrees PatelIdrees Patel| 4:41 PM

Have you ever wondered why your writing was not good enough?

We’ve all done it.

You write and you write. You stress over your choice of words and your sentence structure. You’ve got the headlines and the subheads perfected. Your content is fantastic, something that deserves to get viral, deserves to be read by people. It’s helpful, informative and funny as well. It’s brilliant according to you, and yet no one bothers to read it (even if you market it like crazy).

So where’s the problem here? If there were one more sentence before the 2nd and 3rd sentences in the last paragraph, a sentence like this… “You write superb paragraphs.” Then it would explain the problem. Why, though?

It’s like this: a bricklayer can do his work brilliantly, but if his fundamental blocks – the bricks – are of poor quality, then how is his work and the result going to be perfect?

If the fundamental building blocks are of low quality, then how can the overall result be a masterpiece?

And what are the fundamental building blocks in writing? … Paragraphs.

So how do we get these paragraphs right so that we can speed on our way to other important things that matter? In short, how can we master the art of writing awesome paragraphs?

That’s what we’re here for. So let’s begin, class is in session!
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7 Questions to Consider When Writing7 Questions to Consider When Writing

August 31, 2010August 31, 2010| Idrees PatelIdrees Patel| 5:17 PM

Writing is tough, right?writing-questions-image

There are just so many things to consider when you are writing something, be it anything. It could be a:

  • Blog post or article
  • Fiction
  • Poetry
  • School paper
  • Business report
  • Etc etc

There are so many, many questions to consider when writing. Some of them are useful. Some of them are not. Some of them don’t improve your writing one bit.

And now we arrive at a question. It is: “When writing, what useful questions should we consider?”

The following things.

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Writing Tip: Use Vivid DescriptionWriting Tip: Use Vivid Description

July 31, 2010July 31, 2010| Idrees PatelIdrees Patel| 10:26 PM

What is good writing?

Even though the correct answer is that whether a piece of writing is good or not rests entirely with the reader, many people think that good writing is effective writing. And it’s true.

Good writing follows a flow. Good writing is focused. Good writing is written for a purpose. Good writing is grammatically correct and readable. And…

Good writing uses vivid description.

And I hear you saying: “what is vivid description anyway?”… So here we are!

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Writing Tip: Finding the Balance of Narrative and DialogueWriting Tip: Finding the Balance of Narrative and Dialogue

July 8, 2010July 8, 2010| Idrees PatelIdrees Patel| 12:03 AM

In the world of fiction writing, there are many things to explore. Subplots, conflict, POV, characters, you name it. But have you heard of narrative and dialogue? If you’ve got a story, you’ve got to narrate it. If you’ve got a set of characters, they have to converse, i.e., talk. Talking in fiction writing is known as dialogue, and narrating or describing anything is known as narrative.

Now where’s the problem in that?

Too much of a good thing is usually a bad thing, and it applies here. Some writers use narrative a lot. Their characters aren’t talkers. It’s just page after page of narrative, how they did this, their journey, their perils, the people they met, the surroundings, and so on. All description. At which point your story looks like an essay which no one wants to read, rather than an amazing novel.

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Writing Tip: The Importance of Word CountWriting Tip: The Importance of Word Count

June 25, 2010June 25, 2010| Idrees PatelIdrees Patel| 11:30 PM

Today’s writing tip is about the importance of word count. Boring word count. How can it matter? Most people don’t even know what it is, and those that do, think it’s just an “aside”. It doesn’t matter.

Or does it?

Let’s get that question out of the way. Yes, word count matters. It is an aside, yes, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t important. The fact that most readers don’t know about your word count doesn’t say that they don’t care. Knowing and caring about something is different, of course. Some people might not know the technical term. Maybe they don’t even think of it. But if you don’t have a suitable word count, hurry. You’ve got to fix it up, and fast.

But first things first: what is a word count?

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Writing Tip: Experiment with Free-writingWriting Tip: Experiment with Free-writing

June 21, 2010June 21, 2010| Idrees PatelIdrees Patel| 9:45 PM

Free-writing. What is that? You write freely? It isn’t a technical description, but yes, the meaning is similar. Write whatever comes in your head. Just write. That’s all. But even though it’s simple, it’s powerful.

But what is it useful for?

Have you ever been stuck? I mean, you opened your word processor and freaked out at seeing the blank page? Did you have that feeling of writers’ block? The feeling of not being able to write a single word? If it did happen to you, it’s not a matter of worry. It happens to everyone.

The reason it happens is usually that the brain is focused intently upon what you’re going to write. Writing is a mental process. If you get too focused and tense, wondering how you’re going to commit pen down to paper (virtually), then of course, that feeling will happen.

So yes, it’s no big deal not being able to write. But how do you get rid of that feeling so that you actually get some writing done?

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