There are more ABCs of writing to know for your process.
The ABCs of writing continue on with the letter "L," and on through the remainder of the alphabet. The process of writing the alphabet in terms of creative ways to approach your writing is a task that every writer should set their mind to completing. It is vital for writers to know what they stand for, what they are aiming for in their writing, and what they feel are the necessities for further accomplishments. Click for Free Writer's Block Help E-Zine and Free E-Book L is for Lifestyle. Writing should be a large part of your daily lifestyle. It is one of the most important ideas that gives you creative license to write what you know, what you love, and what you feel most comfortable discussing through your words. Learn to think outside the box and see the world, your writing, your characterization, your emotions, and all the other aspects of writing in new and glorious ways. Let your lifestyle become your motivation to notice all that is around you. These ideas will help provide the basis for the lifestyle that you should create for yourself as you read and write more on the road to perfecting your own writing technique through these ABCs of writing. M is for Market. Be sure that you market your writing to the appropriate audience. Do not attempt to sell a children's fairy tale to a adult romance publisher. You have to set your sights on the right types of publishers in order to have future success with your writing. You also want to set your sights on the right type of demographic for your writing. Consider just who will be reading your writing. Be certain that the words and phrases you use are at least somewhat specific to that demographic in order that you meet the needs of the people you are most trying to impress with your writing skills. N is for Nostalgia. Use past experiences and memories to write your work. Capitalize on the effects of something that happened to you, or the causes that got you there. You can feed into the nostalgia of your writing by remembering how you got a character out of a conflict in the past. It may help you to figure out just how to solve a similar problem in the new story you are writing. Use nostalgia to your benefit. Establishing a solid store of memories and the emotions you connect with them can make for gripping writing. O is for Opaque. Do not make your writing opaque. In the same token, do not make it too transparent. What is meant by this is simply that you should find a happy medium in your writing. Do not make it too difficult to understand, or, for that matter, too simple. Leave room for your readers to be curious and motivated to read more. Do not give everything away right off the bat (too transparent), and do not keep everything the ultimate secret until the very last chapter of your book (too opaque). Let peoples' minds wander, but hint at clues along the way that will keep their interest and encourage them to continue reading. P is for Purpose. It may sound overly cliche, but writing must have purpose. You must know what you are writing, whom you are writing it for, why you are writing it, and how you came to the understanding that you did about what your writing will discuss. You must understand the who, what, when, where, why of your writing in order to do your utmost to make it great. Directed writing helps writers hit home with their purpose. It is the driving force behind the greatest writing. Q is for Quality. Again, quality may sound like an overdone characteristic, but it is absolutely essential in the writing of a masterful piece of work. You may have heard it said that quality is more important than quantity. In good writing, this statement rings quite true. Quantity can look good on paper (the more you have, the more work you must have put in, right?), but the truth of the matter is that too much of something can lead to issues throughout. For example, you might find yourself becoming too repetitive if you have too much writing to read through. Season your writing with quality. Pepper it with all the other ABCs of writing that are staples of the writing process. R is for Respect. Have you ever read a book, watched a television show or movie, or listened to a song on the radio and wondered just how in the name of good writing a certain line got uttered? Maybe you've even wondered how certain writers keep their jobs. How do they publish more and more in written form, or on the TV or movie screens? Have respect for quality writing. Prove that you know what makes good, thoroughly impressive writing by reading the works of great authors and aspiring to the greatest of heights with your own work. Not only should you respect the work of others, but you should respect your very own work as well. If you do not respect what you do, how can you expect others to do so? S is for Sportsmanship. Give your characters a competitive edge. Let them work both for and against one another to make for more compelling, animated writing. You want to keep readers on the edges of their seats by keeping your characters on those very same edges. Make your characters so vivid and real that your readers feel that they are rooting for or against them as they try their hand at all the different conflicts, emotions, and other tensions you offer as the writer.
T is for Tact. Be careful about the terms and wording you use to express yourself. You do not want to fall into the trap of using too strong of language, or, for that matter, language that is too juvenile. Gauge your Intended audience and see what words, phrases, and other language best fits what you are writing about and whom you are writing for. When writing dialogue, write how a person would talk, and not necessarily in the most proper grammar you have ever seen. Understanding your characters through character mapping and other techniques will help you become more tactful in your approach to writing. U is for Uniformity. You do not want to conform to the normal approaches that writers take. That is not to say that some of those approaches should not be used, because they should be. You should take into account all the approaches that other writers have used to make their writing more magical, more creative, and more interesting to read. When you make your writing put on a "uniform," so to speak, you are not allowing it to bask in Its own glory. Let your writing take on its own form. Let it whisk you off into other worlds and help you to understand your own style and approach. V is for Value. You are sure to want to take a vested interest in your writing. After all, you are the one penning it. Value can take on two meanings here. First and foremost, value your writing technique. Trust what you know and what you write, and encourage yourself to reach greater heights. Secondly, find value in your writing itself. See the positives and strengths that your writing exhibits. However, do not forget to look for the areas that are in need of improvement. It is the mark of a great and gifted writer when he or she can see the areas that are lacking and need refinement. W is for Whimsy. Make your writing fancy-free and whimsical. Imagine new worlds. Reach new heights or depths. Create characters that only you have the ability to solidify through your own unique writing technique. Have fun, and as you do so, write to your heart's content! X is for Xylophone. I know it sounds corny. There are not many words that begin with "X" that work here. Go with me on this one. A xylophone produces different sounds depending on what parts of it you hit. So should it be with your writing. You should know how to hit the high notes, the low notes, and everything in-between. Xylophones allow you to improvise, as you try out different sounds. Try out different styles of writing. Improve your technique through the use of different genres. See what you can do to make your writing more surprising and thoroughly impressive. Y is for Yet. If you don't believe in yourself, who do you think will? You may not have been published yet. You may not have perfected your own unique writing technique just yet. You may not even know what you want to write about yet. Just notice what they key word is in all of this: yet. Nothing may have happened yet, but it may be on the verge of happening. Don't give up. Keep trying. Work harder. Strive to higher heights, and imagine the most thrilling scenes. Everything good will come in time, as long as you keep in mind that it might not have happened just yet, but it's working its way there, as long as you are still working your way there. Z is for Zest. In my opinion, one of the most important aspects of the ABCs of writing is to have a zeal, or a zest, for what you are doing. You want to come across as someone who loves his or her craft, and the best way to do this is to prove your love of writing by making it a part of your everyday life. Use your zest to engage in the symbolism, vocabulary, and other pertinent aspects of the ABCs of writing that make you love what you do all the more. The ABCs of the writing process do not stop here. There are so many more words that can be explored for how to further your craft and enjoy what you do. You can learn to write what you like and do it well. Now that you have read through my ABCs of writing, what are yours?
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