[Tipster] Back To The Basics

The Journey Sixty6 writing community is made up of writers at every stage of the writing life.

Some have never written much but have declared, "I want to write more. I want to add writing to my life."

I love that. It's a simple declaration about the future. About a grand future.

They've taken the first, most important step.

Others in our community have just started thinking about writing a book. They're not sure what to do next.

Others are in the middle of writing a book.

Some have landed book deals with commercial publishers, others are self publishing.

Some aren't sure if they ever want to publish what they're writing.

That's okay too.

No matter which leg of the writing road trip you're driving right now, this is pure gold:

We all get stuck when we start to lay down sentences. We just do. It's the nature of the beast.

One of my favorite books on writing is Writing Tools: 55 Essential Strategies for Every Writer. It's by Roy Peter Clark, and I like it as much as I do Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird.

I like Writing Tools because it is so practical. And practical is what all writers need.

At every leg of the writing journey.

Here's one of the first practical tips from Clark - from Tool 1:

"The next time you struggle with a sentence, rewrite it placing subject and verb at the beginning."

In short, get really clear on the two most powerful elements of your sentence.

I Can Do That!

Okay, here's a sentence:

"Now that the pandemic may be waning, I feel a renewed sense of hope for what the future holds."

The subject is "I" and the verb is "feel."

If I rewrote the sentence with the subject and verb up front, the sentence would look like this:

"I feel a renewed sense of hope for what the future holds, now that the pandemic may be waning."

Is it a better sentence? Maybe. Maybe not.

But at least I'm clear on the two big components of the sentence - the subject and the verb.

You Haven't Listened to This Episode Yet?

Melissa and I had way too much fun on this one: How to Spot and Eliminate Cliches in Your Writing.

Now, buckle up and write!