Your Editing Partner Blog

Building Paragraphs

2/26/2018

Sentences are the building blocks of a paragraph, and each paragraph works with the others in a novel, an article, or any copy to tell the story you’ve chosen to write. Treat each sentence as a vital part of your creation, and every paragraph will come alive.

• Read each paragraph aloud and “listen” for the hiccup you will feel if the logic is amiss.

• Don’t use pronouns without a clear antecedent.

• Don’t let your sentence structure minimize important points.

• Eliminate wordiness: repeated words/phrases, long-winded phrases, vague expressions.

• Use active verbs whenever possible.

• If a list will achieve greater clarity, then use one.

• Check for smooth transitions or segues from one paragraph to the next. Don’t leave the reader wondering what they missed!

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Writing Glossary: Mixed Metaphors

2/24/2018

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Mixed Metaphors: Two or more metaphors that together produce a ridiculous effect.
I've seen this attribution many times over the years, but it a good example of a Mixed Metaphor. "I knew enough to realize that the alligators were in the swamp and that it was time to circle the wagons." (Rush Limbaugh)

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Writing Glossary: Abbreviations/acronyms/colloquialisms/Jargon

2/23/2018

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Abbreviations/acronyms/colloquialisms/Jargon: If you believe your audience will recognize them, use these devices to cut down on wordiness and possibly gain rapport with your listeners/readers.
Just make sure you write out the full reference in your text before resorting to the shortened abbreviation or acronym.
If you're not positive your audience will recognize certain colloquialisms or jargon, figure out a way to make it clear to the reader or avoid them.

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Writing Glossary: Tautologies

2/21/2018

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Tautologies are commonly called baby puppies. Using adjectives or phrases that repeat what another word or phrase means or implies is redundant.

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Quotation Marks: How To Handle Them

2/19/2018

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Quotations come in so many different places in your writing. Here is how to handle a few of them.

Direct Discourse

The first example you probably thought about was direct discourse, which occurs when you quote exactly what a person has said. Indirect discourse occurs when you paraphrase another person’s words by restating them in your own way. When this is done, no quotation marks are required.

Most of the time we think of quotations being displayed in the following way: He said, “The first thing I do after writing an article is to find an editor.” This is typical in the United States; however, in England and some other countries, the comma or period may be found outside the quotation marks.

When writing dialogue, it is usually understood that each new paragraph of a single speaker begins with quotation marks. However, if that speaker’s discourse has more than one paragraph with no dialogue tag or narrative at the end of a paragraph, no ending quotation mark is used. Even if the discourse continues for several paragraphs and each paragraph lacks a dialogue tag or narrative, there is no ending quotation until the final end of the discourse.

Titles

The placement of marks other than periods and commas follows the logic that quotation marks should accompany (be right next to) the text being quoted or set apart as a title. Thus, on either side of the Atlantic, you would write as follows:

What do you think of Robert Frost's "Design"? and
I love "Design"; however, my favorite poem was written by Emily Dickinson.

If you are citing a long poem, a book, or a play, it is customary to use italics rather than quotation marks. However, in today’s electronic world, some programs do not offer you the option of italics. In this case, it is better to use quotation marks than nothing at all.

Quoted Material

If you are quoting from another work, only use quotation marks for the words that are taken directly from that work.

If your direct quote of another work includes a direct discourse from a person, you should place single quotation marks around the direct discourse.

Note

There are many more uses for quotation marks, and I will report on them later.

Keep writing!
Dannye

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Thoughts for 2/14/2018

2/14/2018

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The wisest things you can do as a writer are to make use of others’ experiences, to develop writing aids to make your work easier, and to investigate all available resources.

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Articles From The Heart

2/14/2018

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Have you ever considered writing what are often called "articles from the heart"? It can be a learning experience. It requires little research in the traditional sense. It does require that you dig deeply into your feelings and be willing to expose those emotions to others as well as use them to enrich your creative efforts.

Do you think you can do this? Let's consider some of the attributes of a writer of articles from the heart.

1) Do you have strong ideas about the world, ideas about how to make things better? Are you anxious to express your opinions in whatever venue you find yourself?

2) Is giving considered advice easy for you? Are people always coming to you with their problems? When they do, does it feel like your mind moves into a special place where ideas and answers seem to flow freely?

3) Are you able to see the big picture? In other words, you recognize the negative, but you also see the upside possible if you don't allow yourself to drown in the negativity. In other words, you are not blindly optimistic; you are a blend of emotion and logic, making informed choices.

4) Are you willing to share individual experiences to create a bond with your reader? Ego can often prevent you from sharing your experiences with others, afraid you'll be mocked or discounted. It is only the individual circumstances that differ from one person to another. The emotions link us all. The lessons to be learned from these experiences are common. If you share your journey, the choices you made along the way, and the results, you are offering your unique perspective to the reader.

There are a variety of categories for which you can write articles from your heart.
• Dying to tell others HOW TO do something? It can range from How To Write A Resume to How To Plant A Perennial Garden.

• In today's world with the political arena attempting to manipulate people's lives, there are a myriad of CONTROVERSIAL topics upon which you can offer your thoughts.

• Are you full of stories passed down from one generation to the next? Has your own life been chocked full of ADVENTURE? Ready to spin your tale?

• Do you ever look at the world around you as you go about your day and OBSERVE things that are being taken for granted? Can you express the beauty or the sadness or the simplicity that defines them?

• Do you have wistful memories of another time? Are they still vivid in your mind? Share your NOSTALGIA, giving the stories size, shape, and color so that others can live there for a while with you.

• HUMOR is appreciated by everyone at some point. It is rare to find someone who can find humor in the simplest moments. Someone I have appreciated since meeting her on Facebook is Vickie DeCoster. The best humor isn't forced.

• The articles that have grown out of my passion are INSPIRATIONAL. Mine are in the field of Spiritual Psychology, but inspiration can cover many areas. These are about being able to motivate others, especially in a field about which you are enthusiastic.

Interested in writing these articles from the heart?

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Building Paragraphs

Writing Glossary: Mixed Metaphors

Writing Glossary: Abbreviations/acronyms/colloquialisms/Jargon

Writing Glossary: Tautologies

Quotation Marks: How To Handle Them

Thoughts for 2/14/2018

Articles From The Heart

Dannye Williamsen

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