Sometimes the simple tips are the most useful

Published on by Jean M. Cogdell

Don’t over complicate your writing process.

Sometimes I think I make writing harder than it needs to be. A recent post by Tiffany Sun at The Writing Cooperative reminded me of some simple tips.

Now don’t get me wrong, if writing were easy everyone would be on the NYT list. I don’t mean that but often I get frustrated trying to put something into words on this dang screen. That’s when I need to remember a few basics.

Tiffany lists twelve hacks that are just good common sense writing. I hope one of them speaks to you.

#11 is my favorite. Not sure I could type without seeing the words, however, this did give me ideas. Because perfection haunts me and often stops the flow. If that ever happens to you stop staring at that white screen, turn it off or at least dim it so that you can’t see every typo, every grammar mistake, and relax. thinking computer -1020137_640

Turn off those grammar correction tools until you’re ready to edit.   And then just write!

 

Click the link and read her simple tips, maybe one will help next time you get stumped.

12 Writing Hacks You Need to Become a Great Writer

Which of her “hacks” give you food for thought?

Do you have a “tip or hack” that reminds you to keep it simple?

I’d love to hear from you! Leave me a comment!

Click the “write me” tab or contact me on Twitter @jeancogdell,Facebook at jean.cogdell and Amazon.com, stop by and say hey! The lights are on and I’m waiting.

Please remember to share this post with your Twitter  peeps and Facebook fans.

Related articles

12 thoughts on “Sometimes the simple tips are the most useful”

  1. #3 is dangerous, and is the worst advice you can ever give or follow. The rest is pretty solid, but the inclusion of #3 makes me feel like the list has been cobbled together of other lists.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Yes, I see your point. But that could be said about a dictionary, or books on writing techniques. Any tool can be used to stimulate our imagination or as a crutch. It’s up to the artist. Thanks for your viewpoint. Hope you’ll stop by often. 🙂

      Like

      1. No, #3 is generally regarded as a bad idea no matter who you ask. Because when you look up words in a thesaurus, they don’t actually give you the precise definition. If you look up “whisper”, for instance, you’re likely to get “insinuate” as a synonym.

        “Aye, lil mama. Let me insinuate in your ear.”

        See the problem?

        It goes along with never using a big word where a small word will suffice. If “whisper” is what works in that sentence, then it’s the word you need.

        Liked by 1 person

  3. My motto is “Stop agonizing and write already!” This comes from a former colleague whose daughter was a portrait painter and was all business about it. He admired that, as he put it, she didn’t agonize over her art; she simply went about it.

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Pingback: * Sometimes the simple tips are the most useful — jean’s writing | Teachezwell Blog

Comments are closed.