1. Choose your words, punctuation, grammar, and the construction of your sentences wisely and to your advantage. It's amazing how much more you can say, and with an extra umph of power, if you spend the time to sculpt your writing.
2. Be creative. Instead of the same old boring format, try to find new ways to tell your story.
3. Come full circle. All of my English teachers (and yours, too) weren't kidding when they taught the importance of referring back to your introduction in your conclusion. But at the same time, don't restrict yourself to rigid five-paragraph essay format. You can come full circle and be clever about it, too.
And since I apparently can't stick to just three rules, here's two more...
4. Keep your audience in mind and use the relationship you've worked hard to establish to your advantage.
5. Revise, proofread, edit, and tweak. You'll be glad you did.
Anyway, thanks again, Hollywood! Your compliments made my day!
And now, the passing of the torch. Would
- Michelle at These Are Words that Go Together Well,
- Lizardbreath McGee at Random Meanderings, and
- Mommy of Three at I Capture the Chaos*
*Sorry, her blog is private, so a lot of you out there don't get to read her clever writing. Maybe, Kimberlie, you could post your rules in the comments section here as well as on your blog so that those outside your blog circle can learn from your genius?
7 comments:
i love your rules. congrats on the roar. you deserve it!
I agree with you on I Capture the Chaos. I always enjoy reading Kimberlie's blog (although I may be biased). Congrats on your award.
Emily (Kimberlie's sister)
...and thanks for the tips.
Ah, nothing quite like tips from a pro! Thanks for sharing, Linds!
-Lori
Hey Lindsay,
Thanks so much for thinking of me. As requested, I will copy my long post here in the comments for ALL to see. :) I'm sure the format will be crazy, but I tried...
Getting wordy...
I was extremely shocked and flattered (seriously, I had to read it a couple of times!) that Lindsay at Adventures with Lindsay nominated me for the ROAR for powerful words award. I was especially flattered since when I started my blog (with the intent to journal more often and keep distant family in the loop), I decided to “just get it done.” That is, just get over my occasional perfectionism and post blogs even though they are not as polished as I would like. And then, sometime down the road, when posting is a habit, I could work on improving my writing. So, to find that the fabulous writer Lindsay actually enjoys reading my blog--and thinks my writing is good--was amazing, and a wonderful surprise.
To accept my award I must offer you my rules for writing and nominate three people to share their blog-writing advice with us. So, for what it’s worth, here is my meager contribution to the writing world. (Rules I try to follow, but, clearly, have to ignore sometimes in order to just get on with it—I can get a little obsessive sometimes!)
1. Be honest. Write about what you think, feel, and know. Try to let your voice be the one that is talking, not a voice that you think others will want to hear. Don’t assume that others will feel the same way you do, and don’t expect them to.
2. Change it up. Write in different ways and from different perspectives. Use pictures sometimes, but other times, use your words to create them for your readers. Find your own voice, but let us see all sides of it.
3. Edit. Even on my quickest posts, I always use spell-check and read things through a couple of times. Nothing is as distracting as typos and misspelled words when you’re trying to tell your story.
So I guess that’s it. Thanks again Lindsay! Now, when they get a chance, I would like to hear from the wonderful writers:
Amy at It’s All Too Much
Wendy at Sweet and Simple Things*
Jeremy at The Johnsenclan
All of these writers have the talent to make me reflect on my own memories and experiences just as I feel I am right there with them in theirs. I love that. And thanks to all of you in my tiny blogworld for sharing your thoughts and insights with me through your blogs. I love sharing a part of your lives in this way.
*Her blog is also private, so a lot of you will have to miss out on her brilliance, which is a shame.
Oi. Wow.
Er.
I'm very, very flattered. (Especially since you are such a fine writer yourself, Lindsay.)
I'll have to outline my rules of writing in my next blog post... Hmm...
Congratulations, Lindsay! Your blog always offers a variety of content and form which I greatly enjoy. I wish we had more time to spend together - then you could take what's in my head and make it cool and interesting. I'm afraid I'm not brave enough for a writing group, so I'll just have to keep my eye on your blog and practice some of your rules.
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