Adriana Marella-Wolfe, a new member to InScribe, joins us once again as our Guest Blogger on InScribe Writers Online.
"This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says, "Write in a book
all the words I have spoken to you." Jeremiah 30:2 (NIV)
The three R's—Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle—are October’s blog prompt. Below are hints I use for my writing that are written out as a prayer. Enjoy.
Checklist #1
- Remove all the “that, just” and so on from “the list of unnecessary words in writing". Here are a couple of lists that I refer to: 43 Words You Should Cut From Your Writing Immediately by Diane Urban and 298 Useless Filler Words That Rob Your Writing of Its Power by Smartblogger.com
- An on-line copyeditor course “The Keys to Effective Editing” Southeast College in Weyburn, Saskatchewan, Canada, has given me great guidelines.
- Marie Powell’s editing workshop. Count the total number of words in a paragraph. Divide it by two. The result is crossing out the unneeded words.
- Acronyms. Using acronyms helps me to shorten my ideas or give me direction. For example, r- reduce. My tangled web disappears.
- Discard repeated words like “said”. Use more action verbs.
- Use the five senses and intuition. Go with the gut.
- Reduce to three opinions for each character in dialogue: positive, negative, and neutral/undecided.
“Lord Jesus, my teacher, how do I reuse? I am a pack rat.”
Checklist #2
- Reuse patterns with my dual time lines. Consider locations and dates.
- Edit. Watch for spelling, grammar, tenses. That's my task as a copyeditor.
- Have empathy for your characters. Dialogue helps me to interact with them. I act it out.
- Reusing tones helps to generate arcs - rising, falling, and healing.
- Press "Save As" and then print a hard copy. When our computer broke down, I did not have a backup or printed copy. I lost everything. Now with my new computer, I save as and print a hard copy.
- Double check with a short list. On the side of my work, I write down the five senses and intuition: who, what, when, where, why, and how. I place a check mark or X beside each one after I look to see if I have inserted them.
- Yes, I am a pack rat. I have copies of my first draft ever. Travel pieces are a keepsake for me. I reuse places, times, and events.
- Headers/Footers. Here is a short video: How to Create Reusable Headers and Footers in Microsoft Word (on YouTube) by Erin Wright Writing.
“Holy Spirit, my advocate. How do I recycle my writing? “Yuck, who writes this? Oh yeah, it’s me.”
Checklist #3
- Keep all notes and old inserts. I may not use them, but I can recreate new scenes.
- My journals. Write past or present travel stories using location and dates. Check out these links: Journaling, slow living, and the analog life and 30 Inspiring September Journal Prompts (+ Ideas)
- Recycle emotions. Check out: The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide To Character Expression by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi.
- Phrases for giving constructive criticism. Check out this article by Zip Recruiter: 11 Constructive Criticism Writing Examples to Produce Results
- Use writing prompts. For example, write your life story in five sentences.
- Use action verbs. As a teacher, in my lesson plans I could not use “learn” as a verb. It must show movement, i.e., "The student sketches, using charcoal sticks, of their favorite fruit."
- Dialogue can be reinvented.
- Flashbacks are scenes of trauma. They are more than a memory. They can be emotional and/or physical sensations. They can be a sign of recovery. Check out the short article Experiencing Flashback by www.cisters.org.uk
Thank you for your guidance. Amen.
Adriana Marella-Wolfe is a retired teacher, wife, and mom living in Regina, most of her life. Adriana has a Bachelor of Education Degree, University of Regina, Laity - Archdiocese of Regina and People of the Archangel Publications - home-based business as a self-publisher, copyeditor, author with craft/trade shows. Historical/contemporary fiction, poetry and spiritual stories are published in anthologies, newspapers, and magazines. Adriana loves to travel, write, read, knit, and crochet.
Thank you, Adriana, for these lists of tips and hints you use as reminders of how you can recycle, reduce, and reuse your writings. I like how you've turned them into little prayers as you work away. And thanks also for the links you shared.
ReplyDelete