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Fantastic and practical writing guide.
The Writing Process
- Ideas
- Information Gathering
- Focus
- Organizing
- Drafting
- Polishing
Don’t mistake a writing topic as a writing idea.
A good writing idea must have an interesting hypothesis that helps shape and focus the writing.
A Theme Statement – one sentence with a subject, transitive verb and object that tells what your story is about. “Tell your story in six words.”
Structure
Essays are essentially reports. The best essays allow the reader to experience the story for themselves, and perhaps discover some larger truth about the human experience.
Storytelling can have a powerful emotional impact on readers if told well.
- Whose story is it?
- What’s happening here?
- What’s at stake?
Writing Guidelines
Brevity is the handmaiden of force.
“The adjective hasn’t been born yet that can pull a noun out of a tight spot.” — E.B. White (so choose good nouns!)
Reader seduction formula: Probability of reading your work = (Expectation of reward / Perception of Effort)