Welcome to the first Artistry With Words blog posting. I had a practice run a few days ago, but this is the real thing.
As always, this is a work in progress. I’ll clean up the site as I go, or whenever I can get Bev to help me with it. Just hang in there and I’ll have it looking better in time.
So, what do we do here? Well, we talk about writing. I’ll give some tips each posting, and steer you towards some sites that I think you might find helpful. This is a giving site. You will see no ads on this site. I’m not selling you anything. We will exchange ideas and suggestions and hopefully we will all become better writers through the process.
“Writing is an extreme privilege but it’s also a gift. It’s a gift to yourself and it’s a gift of giving a story to someone.”
Amy Tan
TIP OF THE DAY
“ My most important rule is one that sums up my 10 rules:
If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it”…..Elmore Leonard
I love that tip. What’s Mr. Leonard saying? This is just my interpretation, but I believe he is saying that writing is an art and as such should reflect real life. We each have a unique writing voice, and we must use that voice to make our writing come alive.
We have all read bad writing. It goes something like this: blah, blah, blah, blah. We have also all read great writing. It explodes off of the page and stirs our senses, and it sure doesn’t sound like writing.
“The wind grew stronger, whisked under stones, carried up straws and old leaves, and even little clods, marking its course as it sailed across the fields. The air and the sky darkened and through them the sun shone redly, and there was a raw sting in the air. During a night the wind raced faster over the land, dug cunningly among the rootlets of the corn, and the corn fought the wind with its weakened leaves until the roots were freed by the prying wind and then each stalk settled wearily sideways toward the earth and pointed the direction of the wind.” The Grapes of Wrath
Read that paragraph by Steinbeck. There is no way that sounds like writing. What it does sound like is the stark face of reality, and I believe that is what Leonard was getting at with his tip of the day.
SITE OF THE DAY
Short Story Contest Deadlines can be found at http://fictionwriting.about.com/od/thebusinessofwriting/a/contesthub.htm
There are contests happening every month of the year for all different genres. Make sure you read the submission rules carefully so you don’t waste time and effort.
THANKS FOR DROPPING BY TODAY
I had fun…how about you? Leave comments…sign up with your email and get notified of each new blog posting. I hope you find this helpful. If you have suggestions please feel free to leave them in the comment section. I want this site to be of help to you, so tell me what you want and I’ll do what I can to deliver.
You can find me on HubPages at http://billybuc.hubpages.com/ and you are free to email me at holland1145@yahoo.com if you have questions related to writing.
Now, get out there and write!
Bill Holland
Billybuc
Artistry With Words 