7 Advanced Writing Techniques

@edeckers

Sturgeon's Law:95% of everything

is crap.— Theodore Sturgeon

"Write good content" is

stupid advice

The Basics

@edeckers

•Use active voice; passive voice is to be avoided.

•No infinitives/gerunds (also called "future continuous").

•Subject & verb at beginning of the sentence.

1. Write good ledes.(Write like a journalist,

not a teenager in her diary.)

@edeckers

@edeckers

"He coulda beena credenza."

— David Knowles, The Daily

•Webster's defines "mediocre" as. . .

•If you've been living under a rock. . .

•My friend, Steve, and I were at our favorite coffee shop, drinking soy chai lattes. . .

•Take 2 parts "blah," and 3 parts "meh," and mix them up to create the worst ledes ever.

@edeckers

These kill kittens!

2. Write 3 – 5 good ledes.String them together.

@edeckers

We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold.

I remember saying something like, "I feel a bit lightheaded; maybe you should drive . . ."

And suddenly there was a terrible roar all around us and the sky was full of what looked like huge bats, all swooping and screeching and diving around the car, which was going about 100 miles an hour with the top down to Las Vegas.

And a voice was screaming: "Holy Jesus! What are these goddamn animals?"

@edeckers— HST, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

3. Metaphors rule.(Similes will do in a pinch.)

@edeckers

Similies are like pencils

Metaphors are pens

Men's words are bullets, that their enemies take up and make use of against them. — George Savile, Maxims of State

Life is like a box of chocolates. — Forrest Gump

@edeckers

And the impending squint of first light

It lurked behind a weepin’ marquee in downtown Putnam

It’d be pullin’ up any minute now

Just like a bastard amber Velveeta yellow cab on a rainy corner

And be blowin’ its horn in every window in town— Tom Waits, Nighthawks at the Diner, "Putnam County"

4. Use Simple Language

@edeckers

“We will leverage end user learnings on a going forward basis.”

@edeckers

“We'll use what you learned from now on.”

“We have created a frictionless user onboarding experience.”

@edeckers

“Signing up is easy.”

5. Eliminate adjectivesand adverbs.

@edeckers

6. Eliminateall the

Needless Wordsin your work

@edeckers

Use the BEST Words•Don't describe verbs, use the best verb.

•Don't describe nouns, make us see/feel/hear.

•Show, don't tell.

7. Your English Teacher Is Not a Writer

@edeckers

If proper usage getsin the way, it mayhave to go.

I can’t allow what welearned in Englishcomposition todisrupt thesound and rhythmof the narrative.

Elmore Leonard

Robert Lowth

• Split infinitives boldly• End sentences with prepositions• Start sentences with And, But, Or

@edeckers

Bonus:"Write Drunk. Edit Sober."

@edeckers

Any Questions?

@edeckers

Read meProBlogService.com ErikDeckers.com

@edeckerserik@problogservice.com

Reach me

Thank you!