10.12.09
How To Write A Personal Essay
Over the years, I have written tons of personal essays — many of which have been published in print for cash. Personal essays are slightly harder to write than articles, but not by much. After a little practice, you will probably be writing them in your sleep. Readers tend to respond more to personal essays than articles, since the writer reveals more about himself.
I usually write essays between 500 and 2,000 words. That seems the ideal length for most magazines and websites. A rule of thumb for personal essays is to start by discussing something very specific to you and then expand that out to a universal theme or life lesson.
Don’t be worried if the universal theme you find turns out to be an old cliche. People enjoy being reminded that life is worth living, money isn’t everything, things are going to be OK, the good are eventually rewarded, and that all people have the same problems, more or less. In fact, the greatest art is often considered great simply because it reminds us of such simple truths when we forget.
Parts Of The Personal Essay
Most personal essays seem to have two basic sections, which I will call the Motivation and the Reaction.
10.11.09
How To Determine Your Writing Style: Imaginative vs. Pragmatic Writers
There are two kinds of writers in the world: Imaginative Writers and Pragmatic Writers. Imaginative Writers are people who dream in fiction. They generally love novels and fantasy. They have a gift for drama.
The second kind of writer is the Pragmatic Writer. The Pragmatic Writer typically reads non-fiction, interviews, and biographies. The Pragmatic Writer likes learning about the real world.
What is Your Writing Style?
The good news is that it’s very simple to find out what kind of writer you are. The bad news is that you don’t get to choose. The way to find out what kind of writer you are is to ask yourself, “What do I like to read?” Or better yet, “What can I not put down?”
Whatever it is that you can’t stop reading — or thinking about — is the thing you will likely be good at writing. Whatever else you try to write will probably be mediocre at best. Who but someone that loved Westerns ever wrote a good Western novel?
I first got paid for writing about 7 years ago. The first thing I got published was a short essay. That little bit of success made me decide to attempt a bigger, more serious project. I never stopped to consider that the thing I had written — effortlessly and with joy — was the type of thing I myself enjoyed reading. So I wasted a few years writing short stories and two novels (now sitting in the bottom of a cardboard box). The process was painful and depressing because I was trying to write the wrong thing for me.
Meanwhile, I kept getting little essays published, as well as short articles on the Web. I didn’t think of this as serious writing, yet I did it effortlessly, enjoyed the work, and received good feedback from others. Luckily, I finally
01.19.09
Celebrate Writer’s Day 2009 on April 3rd!
Celebrate Writer’s Day on April 3, 2009.
A new Facebook group has been created for Writer’s Day.
It was suggested by the late, great American writer Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. that April 3rd might be a good candidate for “Writer’s Day”.
Vonnegut chose April 3rd because it was the day on which Samuel Johnson signed a contract to complete the first dictionary of the English language (in 1753).
As a way of celebrating writers everywhere — of any language — and to honor Mr. Vonnegut’s memory, please join us by celebrating Writer’s Day on April 3, 2009.
Link (to “Writer’s Day” Facebook Group)
12.14.08
Go Ahead And Tell The Truth
I think writing is the best creative outlet I’ve ever found.
First, it’s cheap. Really cheap. How minimal are the supplies needed? I have written entire articles — that have been published — on the backs of convenience store receipts or napkins, and in the margins of already full notepads… with borrowed pens! Basically, all you need is something you want to express and some way to capture it.
Second, writing requires minimal set-up. You can do it basically anytime, anywhere. You can even do it without paper — often I “write” in my head when I’m riding on the train or taking a shower and then “transcribe” it later. There’s no need to make an appointment with anyone else. When I’m crazy busy, I often record ideas into my MP3 player for later use.
The hardest part about writing, I think, is the natural inclination to want to censor ideas. This often comes in the form of worrying what an imaginary audience will think about an idea, especially an unpopular or silly one.
I have been writing “seriously” since 2002. That great year was when I got my first paid publication. I don’t count being published in the high school newspaper before that or whatever. When I look back, I think my favorite stuff I’ve written is the stuff where I’ve shared my honest thoughts without the aforementioned self-censoring.
11.27.08
Two Easy Ways To Write
I got a good response from several friends yesterday when I posted about how I consider my writing method nonconscious. It sounds a bit weird, I know, but here are the only two ways that I seem to write:
1. The idea comes FULLY FORMED for the thing I want to write about.
Usually in the shower when I am running late to work and don’t have time to jot it down! Since I often write essays for a local magazine, the idea usually comes in the form of “Wow, that idea would make a great essay!”
Sometimes I get the topic and then have to sit on it for a few days, waiting for the different parts of the essay to come to me, or for my brain to remember stories and thoughts connected to the topic that I can use. Often, the whole thing comes and I can imagine the entire essay from the first sentence — even the wording — all the way down to the last sentence. When I finally sit down to write, I am almost just transcribing the essay that is already in my mind.
11.25.08
Branding Your Blog Made Complicated
As much fun as I’ve had with Spiddlement, I realized at some point recently that we didn’t really have a “brand”.
What the heck is Spiddlement? Is it a music blog, a political blog, a personal essay blog?
This got me worried. I thought, I need to just redo the whole thing, change the name, find one big focus and stick to that. This being all over the place stuff isn’t effective. Who am I trying to reach?
When I started this blog in August 2007, I had become inspired by blogs like Neatorama and Boingboing. The original idea was to post the cool links that I would usually send to my friends. That would reduce the amount of email I sent — if people were interested, they could just check the blog. I figured some others might also enjoy seeing the links.
But, at some point, I realized that I didn’t have the time to find/ post cool links every single day. It involved a daily commitment to being on the computer a lot, and there were other things I wanted to do with my time. I also felt like I was not giving it enough of a “personal touch” with original material. Also, as one blogger said, it’s almost impossible to “break news” on the net — people can just go directly to the source. Why duplicate effort?
So recently I got the idea to “focus” and figure out what this blog is supposed to be about. But there’s something — at least to me — about any creative act that has absolutely nothing to do with planning. The more I thought about it deeply, the less I posted anything. As I posted less, I watched Spiddlement’s Technorati rating plummet from 25 down to 4 (the last time I checked). Ouch!
08.25.08
Cell Phone Novel Craze Continues
This cell phone could be your next typewriter.
Our post about Japanese Cell Phone Novels was one of our highest read posts of all time, and continues to get plenty of reads every day.
So, to answer the question this recent ABC News article asks (“Will Cell Phone Novels Come Stateside?”), Spiddlement predicts they will. And also, a lot of writing is going to get much shorter in general. Like the blog post you’re reading now.
All the interest from our readers made me decide to revisit the topic, and see what was new in the world of cell phone novels since I’d last checked.
And I finally found a cool site called Textnovel.com that allows you to create and share your own English language cell phone novel. I’ll definitely be thinking of ideas for mine!
Link (to Textnovel.com)
08.24.08
Archive, Don’t File
I liked this recent post on Zen Habits (“12 New Working Rules You Should Embrace Today”)…
One of the items on the list coincided nicely with the (too) recent realization I’ve had that filing is dead, it’s all about archiving now:
“5. Archive, don’t file. Traditionally, people filed paper documents in folders, labeled the folders, and organized them in cabinets. With more and more documents being stored in computers, this way of organizing carried over to the computer desktop, with folders and files all being organized (or disorganized, if you aren’t careful). This meant that either you spent a lot of time filing and organizing, or you lost things.
Today, many people still work that way, even if it doesn’t make the most sense. What makes more sense, with the power of computers and speed of today’s apps, is the method popularized by Gmail: archive and search. Instead of creating folders for everything, and then diligently filing, you could now just hit “archive” and then use Gmail’s very fast search engine to find what you need. Of course, you could still “tag” things which is almost like folders but more versatile, but even that is optional.”
I remember when I first switched from Hotmail to Gmail. In Hotmail, I had created a folder of old emails that I never wanted to throw away. So I was VERY scared to “lose” them in Gmail’s archive feature.
Soon I realized that they were easier to find that before… rather than sort through ALL of them, I could just use a keyword to find the one I wanted.
And — like junk around the house that should probably be thrown out rather than stored — I ultimately never looked at most of those emails again. But knowing that I could pull them up at any time gave me peace of mind.
Link (via Zen Habits)
04.07.08
Online Grammar and Punctuation Guide
If you’re blogging a lot (or just sending a lot of emails), it never hurts to reference basic grammar and punctuation rules.
I recently found this concise page of English rules (including confusing words and capitalization rules) on The Blue Book Of Grammar and Punctuation site.
I like the short explanations followed by examples:
“Use parentheses to enclose words or figures that clarify or are used as an aside.
Example: I expect five hundred dollars ($500).”
And there’s always the classic Elements of Style by Strunk and White. The 1918 edition with the Elementary Rules of Usage and Principles of Composition is available online.
I never let perfect grammar/punctuation get in the way of an inspired sentence, but it’s fun to know the rules before you break them.
Link (via The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation site)
Link (to Strunk and White, Elements of Style)
03.15.08
Kurt Vonnegut on Writing With Style
The single best essay I have ever read on writing is “How To Write With Style” by Kurt Vonnegut.
Vonnegut sez:
“Find a subject you care about and which you in your heart feel others should care about. It is this genuine caring, and not your games with language, which will be the most compelling and seductive element in your style.”
If you have never read this essay, it just might change your writing life. The advice he gives may seem obvious at first glance, but much of it is counterintuitive to our natural urges to try to be something other that what we are when sitting down to write.
This essay also appears in the excellent collection Palm Sunday, which I highly recommend.
Link (to “How To With Style” by Kurt Vonnegut)
