by C. S. Lewis
1. Turn off the radio.
2. Read good books and avoid most magazines.
3. Write with the ear, not the eye. Make every sentence sound good.
4. Write only about things that interest you. If you have no interests, you will never be a writer.
5. Be clear. Remember that readers can't know your mind. Don't forget to tell them exactly what they need to know to understand you.
6. Save odds and ends of writing attempts, because you may be able to use them later.
7. You need a well-trained sense of word-rhythm, and the noise of a typewriter will interfere.
8. Know the meaning of every word you use.
9. Don't use words too big for the subject. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite.
10. Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.
Agree? Disagree? Comments? =)
1) If I had a radio to turn off, I would. U_U However, in the current world, I guess a good equivalent would be "Turn off the TV." Though I don't have TV, so "Turn off the Wifi." might do it better. xD
ReplyDelete2) So true. Reading books teaches us how to write them. x)
3) *nods* Knowing all the rules of grammar is pointless if you can't make your sentences sound good. xD Though, you have to be able to use your eye, too... coz sntnces bad gramer with dono soun gud iver>>
4) OH yes. That's why stuff written for school is less likely to be great, since it's less likely to be interesting...
5) *nods* So true... Ever tried reading an author's mind? =D
6) Amen!
7) I haven't used a typewriter in yeeeeears... and I don't think I ever did writing writing on one. =P Of course, keyboards are a lot quieter...
@_@ D= Mah mother just turned the TV on. Landscaping... and... other boring stuff... which somehow grabs my attention and demands I watch it. <_< Mom offered to turn it off... but I don't want to stop her, as we rarely have TV available... At a hotel right now. =P So I'll probably grab my headphones and play celtic fantasy to drown it out. Though she has it muted at the moment, while searching, after encountering an unfriendly channel. TV these days. e_e Not that I know what it was like in days past. <.< Hmm... *returns from watching for about 10 minutes* Show/news about lifeguards rescuing people at the beach.* The wedge at newport beach... interesting... And San Diego... Mission Bay... *goes for headphones* *comes back 10 minutes later* >.> TV is sooo distracting... Rescuing people from the sea... interesting, yes, but TV and movies is not what I want to spend much time doing, and no time doing at the moment... =P
8) Hah! Indeed, indeed! Yes, I often double check on words I'm not 100% sure on. Dictionary and thesaurus are a writer's friends. ^_^
9) =D *quoted that at Writers' Gathering once*
10) Amen, amen. x) *had to accept that in order to write mah first novel*