A Writer’s Greatest Sin(s)
Actually I am going to list 3 of them. Are there more sins that are writer is capable of? Of course. But for the sake of those of you who are guilty of all 3 I’d rather not burden you with more.
Being Passive - As I’m writing this sentence I can feel my fingers typing merrily away as I hope of creating the most beautifully perfect phrase. What???!!! Ugh. I think I’m going to be sick. Avoid using unnecessary words at all costs. This screams amateur and shows that you are trying to impress us. Avoid the excessive use of passive verbs that end in “ing”. And adverbs. Especially those that end in “ly” unless needed.
Spelling - Let’s try that sentence again. As Im writing this sentance I can feel my fingers typing merily away as I hop of craeting the must beautifuly perfect phrase. There’s a reason almost every program out there has a spell-check feature. Use it please.
Quitting - Perhaps the deadliest of all sins. Do you think Charles Dickens produced the perfect first draft every time? What if he looked at A Tale of Two Cities in its raw form and declared it utter trash and tossed it into the fire? What if every author lit a match to work they weren’t happy with at first glance? We’d have nothing to read. A society of imbeciles. If someone tells you that your writing leaves a lot to be desired so what? You can fix it. After all - you’re the creator. Study and practice always makes perfect.
So back to our phrase. How does this sound? As I write this sentence I have high hopes of creating the perfect phrase.
Needs work but it’s a start.
Photo Courtesy of annecentral
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Comments
Rick,
If you get a chance, look at my website. I created it this weekend for my new business. Let me know if it sounds and looks ok. We’ll post photos of the model when it is completed. If you don’t get to it, I understand. You are busy at the keyboard with your the next best seller!
(Notice, not an ly or and ing in that entire message! I’m good!)
The last sentence is defintely (oops- an ly word scratch that oh I didn’t spell a word right… :O( )
Your final attempt is working (darn! a verb ending in ing URGH!)
Your final attempt is a definite improvement! (yeah for me!)