| Rudyard Kipling said, "Words are, of course, the | | | | How can you put this one-liner to work for you? |
| most powerful drug used by mankind." Nothing | | | | Read your writing aloud and listen for the natural |
| changes people like words, written well. Here are | | | | emphasis. (It may be only a whisper, so listen |
| five powerful one-liners to inspire you and keep | | | | closely.) |
| your writing strong. | | | | I'm confident that with the power of Strunk you |
| You don't have to get it right the first time. | | | | can improve your writing. |
| Barbara Sher | | | | I'm confident that you can improve your writing |
| In fact, it's better if you don't. OK, OK, I don't | | | | with the power of Strunk. |
| really know if it's better; I just like the way that | | | | You can improve your writing with the power of |
| sounds, so I wrote it to get myself started. It's | | | | Strunk; I'm confident. There it is. |
| one of the techniques I use to break free from | | | | Never use a long word where a short one will do. |
| writer's paralysis. | | | | George Orwell |
| If you can't seem to get started, just write | | | | I sometimes wonder if other writers get paid by |
| something. Anything. Do you like the word | | | | the letter. Long words don't make your writing |
| butterscotch? Write butterscotch. Then write it | | | | intellectual or professional, and they certainly don't |
| again. And again. Butterscotch. Butterscotch. | | | | make it appealing or accessible to your readers. |
| Butterscotch. Somewhere between the third and | | | | Precision does. Your writing will be powerful if you |
| the 33rd time you write butterscotch you realize | | | | choose words for their meaning, not their length. |
| that the word is just a row of characters, just an | | | | Inspiration is wonderful when it happens, but the |
| assembly of lines and spaces. It's you who brings | | | | writer must develop an approach for the rest of |
| meaning to the word. | | | | the time...The wait is simply too long. Leonard |
| Your writing makes butterscotch an ice cream | | | | Bernstein |
| flavor, a silk blouse or a 2-year old golden | | | | Whether you live to write or write to live, at |
| retriever. More importantly, it's your re-writing | | | | some point you face the challenge of writing |
| that makes the ice cream creamier, the silk | | | | without inspiration. Here are some strategies to |
| blouse silkier and the golden retriever a bounding | | | | keep you moving forward: |
| scalawag. | | | | Write first thing in the morning. Keep a notebook |
| The expectation that writing can be right the first | | | | next to your bed and jot down one idea or a few |
| time scares even experienced writers away from | | | | bullet points before your feet hit the floor. Sales |
| their words. Don't worry about getting it just right. | | | | training workshop will motivate... discover... closing |
| Just write. Because a blank page is like a cavity - | | | | skills... explore... new levels...that's all. The point is to |
| if you ignore it, it gets bigger and more painful. | | | | get something on paper that you can work with |
| Writing is an intimate transaction between two | | | | later. |
| people, conducted on paper, and it will go well to | | | | Catch up on email. It limbers your mind and |
| the extent that it retains its humanity. William | | | | fingers and removes the temptation to distract |
| Zinsser | | | | yourself with email later. |
| I feel sorry for people whose writing is sterile and | | | | Commit yourself to someone else. While you're |
| lifeless, because I imagine that they're sterile and | | | | sending email, send one to your boss, your editor, |
| lifeless as well. Maybe not. Maybe they radiate | | | | your mother, even your priest. Announce your |
| vitality for miles in every direction except the | | | | deadline and invite them to ask to see your |
| reader's, but I doubt it. More than anything else, | | | | finished work on that date. Make sure you send a |
| writing reveals the writer's relationship with the | | | | blind copy unless you want your mother talking to |
| world. I once worked for someone who wrote | | | | your boss, your editor and your priest. |
| motivational memos like "This division and all | | | | Write in five or ten-minute intervals. The only rule |
| sub-units will endeavor to facilitate intra-system | | | | here is that you must spend the entire time |
| support initiatives". That was a fun job. | | | | writing - no staring blankly at the computer |
| Whether you're writing promotional copy, sales | | | | screen or the page. When time is up, put it away. |
| training material, web site content or an article for | | | | Repeat this every hour and by the end of the |
| publication, you're writing to someone. Someone | | | | day you'll have at least a couple of pages of |
| human. Touch them with your warmth, your | | | | crummy, fragmented writing. Sift through the |
| sense of humor, and your humanity. Be yourself. | | | | rubble and pull out the cohesive passages and |
| Place the emphatic words of a sentence at the | | | | phrases you find intact. Re-read them the next |
| end. William Strunk, Jr. | | | | day. If you still think they're cohesive and intact, |
| Here Strunk illustrates the power of word | | | | use them as the framework for the rest of your |
| placement. He finishes his sentence with "the end" | | | | writing. |
| in order to impress that phrase on our attention. | | | | Hold your lunch hostage. Decide what writing you |
| If he had written, "Place the emphatic words at | | | | must finish before lunch, and don't eat until you've |
| the end of a sentence", we would naturally | | | | done it. If you're bothered by flies buzzing on the |
| emphasize "sentence" rather than "the end". | | | | uneaten meals piling up around you, this probably |
| In my April 2006 Onwords(TM) column I wrote, | | | | isn't the best strategy for you. |
| "Your writing will be most effective if you select | | | | Stop writing in mid-sentence. This will provoke one |
| words that express your ideas exactly", ending | | | | of three responses. Either you will start strong |
| my sentence with "exactly" because I wanted to | | | | the next time by completing the sentence, you |
| stress the importance of being exact. If I had | | | | will feel compelled to finish the whole piece rather |
| written, "Your writing will be most effective if you | | | | than leave a sentence undone, or you will carefully |
| select words that exactly express your ideas", | | | | arrange on your desk a small round stone, a |
| the emphasis would have fallen on the word | | | | marshmallow and... |
| "ideas". | | | | |