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Never Too Late to Rev Up Your Reading

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by Barbara McNichol

When I started university many moons ago, I saw a need for knowing how to read FAST. Reading opens up avenues to learning, and I was revving up for a long academic and professional career centered on reading as well as writing.

But the speed-reading course I took then didn’t cut it for me. Blame it on distractions of being a freshman and all the temptations of life away from home. It was a bust!

rev-it-up

Read with Speed

Now, I have the opportunity to make up for it through a fabulous speed reading program called Rev It Up Reading. I’m jazzed about it because I know it’s not too late to read with speed—for my editing work, my professional development, and my desire to read for fun.

This online course helps you take control of any reading workload. It’s perfect for busy professionals and for those looking to further their studies and careers. You might be even inspired to finish those half-read books on your bookshelf with speed and comprehension. That’s my goal!

Speed Reading Expert

The comprehensive Rev It Up Reading program was created by speed reading expert Abby Marks Beale. As the author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Speed Reading and 10 Days to Faster Reading, she has decades of experience teaching this skill.

Want to know more? Please go here for complete details on a variety of amazing online options—including a free 24-hour pass to try out the materials before you buy.

Full details here.

P.S. Do you know a student who faced with lots of reading as I am? Pass this along! #read #write #ESL

A Writing Tip that’s Not a Halloween Joke

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by Patrice Rhoades-Baum

Have you heard the expression “murder your darlings”? It’s not a Halloween joke. It’s a century-old, highly respected writing tip.

A writing tip

Who said it?

According to Forrest Wickman’s research, Arthur Quiller-Couch offered this insightful advice in his widely reprinted 1913-1914 Cambridge lectures “On the Art of Writing”:

“Whenever you feel an impulse to perpetrate a piece of exceptionally fine writing, obey it – whole-heartedly – and delete it before sending your manuscript to press. Murder your darlings.”

What does it mean?

Sometimes while writing, we create a sentence or paragraph that is particularly energetic. It flows! It sparkles! It may be brilliant!

But if that sentence or paragraph does not support your message, you need to kill it. You need to whip out your red pen or hit the delete key.

It breaks your heart, but it must be done.

I believe every word, every sentence must support the message. “Murder your darlings” reminds us to be objective when writing and editing our content.

We are servants of the message we seek to communicate. We cannot fall in love with a passage that does not serve our message.

I’ve been writing professionally for 30+ years, and I know it’s tough to “murder your darlings.” My advice? Take a breath. Buck up. Do it.

The more you “murder your darlings,” the easier it becomes. Implement this writing tip to make your message clear. Your writing improves and everyone wins – except that “darling.”

Patrice Rhoades-Baum is a marketing consultant and branding expert. She guides solopreneurs – professional speakers, corporate consultants, and business coaches – to create a clear brand, strategic website, and polished one sheet brochure. Patrice has a 35-year marketing background: 25 years in high-tech corporate marketing + 10 years as a business owner. She specializes in branding for small businesses and writing strategic, hardworking one-sheet and website copy. She can be reached at www.patricerhoadesbaum.com

Share an example of when you “killed a darling” and didn’t have to stand trial for murder.

How Can You Quickly Find the Right Word When It Matters Most?

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By Barbara McNichol

Imagine having a resource at your fingertips that allows you to quickly find the right word when it matters most. Then imagine refreshing your knowledge every week so you can confidently use confusing English words correctly.

As a professional, you know people pay attention to your ability to communicate accurately. Others rely on you for that! But having the right word at your fingertips hasn’t always been easy—until now.

Here’s a solution that enhances your excellence every day (not everyday). American English language resource

Your Word Trippers Tips subscription offers:

  • An ebook featuring 390+ pesky pairings of words that can trip you up (except vs. accept, advise vs. advice, further vs. farther, to name a few)
  • A Word Tripper of the Week arriving in your in-box for 52 weeks (see sample on this page) and includes audio
  • Bonus PDFs on grammar and punctuation tips every quarter
  • Surprise bonuses on better writing along the way!

Sample of Word Tripper of the Week

ongoing word resource

Word Tripper of the Week

Build Credibility, Confidence, Competence in the Nuances of English

Finding the right word to use that matters most—

  • Allows you to be seen as a credible professional
  • Ensures you’re using the right word properly—a confidence builder
  • Boosts your reputation for competence and excellence in your world

Your Word Tripper of the Week hones your knowledge and keeps the learning alive. And its usefulness has been time-tested for more than a decade.

How Did Word Trippers Tips Come About?

As an expert editor of nonfiction books and articles, I’ve been on a crusade to curb the misuse of words through Word Trippers. I keep creating Word Tripper of the Week because I know we’ll never run out of words that trip us up.

To get a better grasp of the English language with ease, invest in Word Trippers Tips—only $99/year.

Questions? Click here for FAQs.

“You can easily find the words, all listed in alphabetical order, without digging through heavy tomes or clicking around the Web for hours. Choosing the right word for the right circumstance can make all the difference in presenting yourself as a credible writer. Barbara has made it easy with this easy to use reference tool.” – Janie Sullivan

Writing and Editing: You Wear Two Different Hats

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by Barbara McNichol

Just as you’d wear a straw-brimmed hat in the sunshine and a rain cap in the pouring rain, remember the importance of wearing two different hats when you’re writing versus editing your nonfiction book.

One hat represents the creative process; the other deals with the critical process. Attempting to edit as you write can dampen your creativity, as I learned when working with an author recently. Because she was on a fast track to get her book printed, she had me editing the beginning chapters while she was still writing the middle and final chapters. What happened? She had to interrupt her writing flow to give me feedback on the chapters I’d sent back. It affected her ability to move forward smoothly, plus we had trouble keeping track of our progress. What frustration!

Differences Between Writing and Editing

In retrospect, we needed to put on the brakes and say, “Each task—writing and editing— demands a separate and specific focus.” Here are three reasons why:

  • When editing your own work, your mind can fill in, correct, or overlook errors. It’s easy to miss things that should be corrected—like missing words and inconsistencies.
  • When you put a week or two between completing a draft and reviewing it, you break the link between what you thought you wrote and what you actually wrote.
  • Once a first draft is finished, if you rush in to evaluate it too quickly, you haven’t allowed your brain to “hang out in the shade and cool.” That’s when you mentally step back and “see” gaps in information, research, and logic. Taking a “big picture” look also enables you to see what fits and what doesn’t.

Create Even More Separation

What can you do to separate writing from editing even more?

  • When you reread your work, reformat it by changing the font, margins, line spacing, and other elements so it tricks the mind and looks like a new document.
  • Keep wearing your creativity hat and go through each chapter asking these important questions:
  1. Is it complete from a content point of view? What’s missing?
  2. Have I included all the facts and stories I want to meet my objectives for this chapter?
  3. Can I take out any content that doesn’t fit?

Once you have answered these satisfactorily, you’re ready for the critical process to take over. While wearing your editing hat, leave behind your content questions and look for the elements of good writing—style, grammar, spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and so on. And when you’re ready for feedback, call in an objective editor who can apply both the creative and critical process to perfecting your manuscript.

Do you agree with this thesis about keeping writing and self-editing separate? Share your thoughts here.

How to Get Rid of Tag-ons and Redundancies

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by Barbara McNichol

Let’s say you have to fill out a form online and you’re restricted to 100 words. You absolutely cannot add one more word. So you work it the best you can, but what can you search for in your quest to meet that magic number of words and whack wordiness at the same time?

redundant wordsTag-ons and redundancies (superfluous repetition or overlapping, especially of words).

A few examples of tag-ons:

  • continue on
  • ramble on
  • refer back to
  • open up
  • cancel out
  • follow on
  • send out
  • start out
  • finish up

Common redundancies:

  • grouped together
  • add more
  • still persist
  • continue to remain
  • plan ahead
  • sum total (choose one)

With many redundancies (such as sum total), you’d use one or the other depending on the context, but not both.

Your challenge: Question every phrase you think may be redundant and test each of the words separately. Which works better in context?

Clutter is the disease of American writing. We are a society strangling in unnecessary words, circular constructions, pompous frills and meaningless jargon. – William Zinsser

For a reference list of redundant phrases, send an email request with Redundancies in the subject line.

What redundant phrases would you add? List them here.

Slow Reading – A Lost Art That Has Life-Changing Benefits

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by Barbara McNichol

A recent Wall Street Journal article emphasizes how Slow Reading has become a lost art—and why taking time to read is vital. The author contends that getting away from electronic prompts and simply reading the old-fashioned way has led to:

  • reduced stress levels
  • improved ability to concentrate
  • deeper ability to think, listen, and empathize

It even cites studies saying how reading in a focused way can slow one’s memory loss. Who doesn’t want that!

Think about how what this article says might change your habits. Here’s how it starts:

Once a week, members of a Wellington, New Zealand, book club arrive at a cafe, grab a drink and shut off their cellphones. Then they sink into cozy chairs and read in silence for an hour.

The point of the club isn’t to talk about literature, but to get away from pinging electronic devices and read, uninterrupted. The group calls itself the Slow Reading Club, and it is at the forefront of a movement populated by frazzled book lovers who miss old-school reading . . .

Read Slowly to Benefit Your Brain and Cut Stress

Do you agree or disagree with this thesis? Comment here.

Use Hidden Headings to Keep Your Message on Track

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by John Hunter, guest blogger

Let me share a technique for initially drafting paragraphs within documents or chapters so the message stays on track. It’s called hidden headers.

During the initial stages of the creative process, make a list of concise headers corresponding to the content and purpose of each paragraph. Shuffle the list until you create a logical connection and progression from one to the next. From here, expand each header into a complete paragraph that fleshes out the point. But the trick is not to delete these headers; rather, hide them when they’re not required.

Apply “Hidden” Style to Create Hidden Headings

How do you do that? Most word processing programs allow you to assign various styles of the components within a document. By simply assigning the “hidden” style, you can  make these headers invisible.

Although these hidden headings are useful when a document is initially drafted, there are benefits in maintaining them throughout the editing cycle. Editors sometimes struggle with the logic flow of large documents. If the headers can be viewed on their own, it helps them analyze the author’s intended flow. Then it becomes a matter of verifying that the headers accurately represent the content of the corresponding paragraphs.

Write a Précis of Key Content in Hidden Headings

This piecemeal approach helps the focus of the piece because each paragraph can be written in relative isolation with guidance from the header. In this context, the hidden heading is a précis of the paragraph’s intended point. Because the header summarizes the message, it’s easier for the editor to sharpen the content to that key message.

You can use this technique for individual or shared documents and extend it to an online implementation for a broader audience. The online version clones any document containing the optional headers, which can be switched on or off as required.

To see an example of this in action, go to http://rulesforeternity.com/chapter1.php Be sure to include the undocumented URL parameter so the hidden paragraph headings are visible. http://rulesforeternity.com/chapter1.php?para=show

You’ll find this hidden headings technique helps enormously with flow while keeping the message aligned with your original intent.

John Hunter was raised in Australia where an uncluttered lifestyle provided hands-on exposure to the wonders of nature.  At the University of Melbourne, he earned an honors degree in science, qualifying as a particle physicist. But it soon became apparent that nuclear-phobic Australia offered limited career prospects so he completed a second degree in electrical engineering. John worked with Schlumberger as an oil engineer before retiring to Queensland where he established a small electronics business—purely a front to facilitate his desire to invent things.  His proudest achievement was inventing the Computaphon, the world´s first electronic phone. He has since gravitated to software development and cosmology, interests that continue to this day. 

What techniques help you in the writing process? Share them here.

Is It Daylight Savings Time or Daylight Saving Time?

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by Todd Hunt, Hunt’s Headlines (used by permission)

The correct way to say Daylight Saving Time

Daylight Saving Time begins this Sunday (March 13). Notice I didn’t say Daylight “Savings” Time. There is no “s” at the end of Saving.

We are saving daylight. We’re not putting savings in a bank.

I know it’s not a big deal…but aren’t those the ones that bug us most?

What common misuses bug YOU? Share them here.

Mark Twain: 10 Writing Tips for All Time

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Editor’s Note: I came across this article about Mark Twain  from http://grammar.about.com/od/advicefromthepros/a/TwainTips.htm. Based on what I see in my editing and teach in my WordShops, these principles still have merit more than a century after Twain lived. 

by Richard Nordquist

writing tipsWidely regarded as the greatest American writer of his time, Mark Twain (Samuel L. Clemens) was often asked for advice on the art and craft of writing. Sometimes the famous humorist would respond seriously and sometimes not.

Here, in remarks drawn from his letters, essays, novels, and speeches, are 10 of Twain’s most memorable observations on the writer’s craft.

  1. Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please.
  2. Use the right word, not its second cousin. (Ed. note: I call them Word Trippers.)
  3. As to the adjective: when in doubt, strike it out.
  4. You need not expect to get your book right the first time. Go to work and revamp or rewrite it. God only exhibits his thunder and lightning at intervals, and so they always command attention. These are God’s adjectives. You thunder and lightning too much; the reader ceases to get under the bed, by and by. (Ed. note: Pay attention to the spelling of lightning; it’s not lightening — a Word Tripper)
  5. Substitute damn every time you’re inclined to write very; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be. (Ed. note: I consider very to be the most overused word in our language. Be more descriptive! Give the reader more precise information!)
  6. Use good grammar. (Ed. note: And learn it correctly. With so much misuse these days, it’s hard to know what’s right for sure.)
  7. Damnation (if you will allow the expression), get up & take a turn around the block & let the sentiment blow off you.
  8. Use plain, simple language, short words and brief sentences. That is the way to write English–it is the modern way and the best way. Stick to it; don’t let fluff and flowers and verbosity creep in. (Ed. note: I call that whacking wordiness–an essential practice for good writing.)
  9. The time to begin writing an article is when you have finished it to your satisfaction. By that time you begin to clearly and logically perceive what it is that you really want to say.
  10. Write without pay until somebody offers pay. If nobody offers within three years, the candidate may look upon this circumstance with the most implicit confidence as the sign that sawing wood is what he was intended for. (Ed. note: It’s Twain’s way of saying to write better, write often.)

Which of Twain’s points resonate most with you? (I added a few of my own editorial comments!) Pick your top three and share them here.

4 Ways to Use Deliberate Subtraction in Your Writing and Your Life

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By Barbara McNichol

Who would expect an author writing a book called Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less would give a whole chapter to editing—what Greg McKeown dubbed “the invisible art”?Essentialism book cover

Since I’ve devoted much of my career to editing, the Edit chapter in this groundbreaking business book drew my attention like a magnet.

Deliberate Subtraction

McKeown wrote: “An editor is not merely someone who says no to things. A three-year-old can do that. Nor does an editor simply eliminate; in fact, in a way, an editor actually adds.” Yes, a good editor uses what he calls deliberate subtraction to add life to ideas. That includes giving energy to what really matters—in writing and in life.

So when considering what happens when you turn over your manuscript to be edited, think in terms of these four items from Essentialism:

*Cutting Out Options. This refers to “killing your darlings” as Stephen King has famously advised. That’s deciding to get rid of anything that can confuse your readers, cloud your message, or get in the way. The word “decision,” McKeown noted, comes from the Latin root of the word cis or cid, which literally means “to cut” or “to kill.” The “darlings” you might kill include overused adverbs and adjectives and extraneous phrases (“in a manner of speaking”, “as you will”, “to be honest with you” and many more). In life, it means to “eliminate multiple meaningless activities and replace them with one meaningful activity.”

* Condense. This directive seeks to make every word count. Instead of using two sentences, can you say what you want to say in one? Condensing requires being both clear and concise—not an easy task, especially when composing a first draft. That’s why writing is rewriting and rewriting some more. In life, do you ever get something perfect the first time you do it? Even a task such as cleaning your house can be condensed with practice and getting clear on what’s most important.

* Correct. In addition to cutting and condensing, an editor’s job is to make things right—a grammar correction, an incorrect word choice, a contradiction, a flaw in an argument—you get the gist. Applied to life, McKeown wrote: “We can make course corrections by coming back to our core purpose.” As an editor, I would ask, “How does this sentence–paragraph–chapter fit the core purpose of the book?” Maybe it’s time to slash and burn to course correct.

* Edit less. This may surprise you, but a good editor doesn’t feel a need to change everything. In fact, it takes discipline to leave things alone at times. That’s another way editing can be seen as an invisible craft. In life, that means showing restraint when we’re tempted to step into the fray unnecessarily. McKeown wrote: “We can wait. We can observe. We can see how things develop.” Good philosophy overall!

Effortless for the Reader

If I were to pick my favorite comment from this Edit chapter, it’s this: “My job is to make life as effortless as possible for the reader.” Who wants to work extra hard—to read a book or to live a life? That’s why there’s a need to make editing a natural cadence in living every day. And of course in writing every day, too!

How would you take on the invisible craft of editing your life? What would you deliberately subtract? Give a few examples here.

Highly recommended: Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown (Crown Publishing, 2014).

 

 

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