Whiplashing...

Well, next week's job was off until five minutes after I canceled everything...and then it was back on. Just bumped a day. This is one I really do want to handle because of whose archives it is. Can't reveal, but I'm totally fan-boy over this one.

Being stuck on the first chapter of Blood Angel-4 A Long Journey is proving to be irritating. I'm not sure what it is I'm missing, but I can't get past this part till I find it. So I'll keep at it. Thus far, I've expanded it to 12 pages then but it back to 10 and now it may be down to 9...unless I add a couple more pages of memory between Léon and Gabrielle.

I don't know if anybody else writes this way. I mean, Hemingway would sit at this typewriter and stare at a blank page trying to find the right word to follow in what he'd already written...and would not let himself up till he'd put down over 500 of them. But he also did a lot of rewriting.

Of course, he also had a really fine editor...Maxwell Perkins...

His four rules of writing well?

1. USE SHORT SENTENCES Short sentences are easier to digest. They make it easier to follow each point of an argument or story. Your job as a writer — or editor — is to make life easy for your audience. Forcing the reader to navigate through a bunch of long, complex sentences is like forcing him/her to hack through the jungle with a machete. Create a nice, tidy path with plenty of short sentences. 

2. USE SHORT FIRST PARAGRAPHS See opening of this post.

3. USE VIGOROUS ENGLISH Copywriter David Garfinkel describes it like this: “It’s muscular, forceful (writing). Vigorous English comes from passion, focus and intention.” This rule is really a reminder to do your homework and fully understand what you are writing about. It is impossible to write with “passion, focus and intention” without having a real grasp of the subject. In most cases, if you’ve done your homework, you will write with authority and vigor. 

4. BE POSITIVE, NOT NEGATIVE Basically, “be positive” means you should say what something is rather than what it isn’t – Instead of saying something is “inexpensive,” say it is “affordable.” – Instead of describing something as “unclear,” say it is “confusing.” This might seem like a small point, but it’s actually quite important. Being “positive” makes your writing more direct. Whether they realize it or not, readers are turned off by “roundabout writing.”

Of course, I violate every one of these rules...and yet Hemingway is one of my favorite writers. Go figure...