tips for writing quickly and well

March 21, 2002 12:58 PM

13 tips for "writing quickly and well" (link inside). Any other pearls of wisdom?
posted by Voyageman to General Weblog-Related at 12:58 PM (25 comments total)

Secrets of Writing Quickly and Well
posted by Voyageman at 12:59 PM on March 21, 2002

Nut graph? Oh, nut graph...
posted by xiffix at 1:09 PM on March 21, 2002

I write a weekly column in a local newspaper, plus an occasional feature story, and I'd say these tips are excellent. I'd add that quotes from the subject(s) add texture and immediacy.
posted by Lynsey at 3:17 PM on March 21, 2002

Any other pearls of wisdom?

This piece targets reporters, who have rather different pressures on their writing than most personal writers. The first rule for personal writing is, basically, Just write. The second rule is, Don't edit. And the third rule is, If you're going to edit, do it later.

I.e., the secret to writing well is to practice. By doing that, you'll know better than anyone else what things help you write the way you like.
posted by mattpfeff at 3:22 PM on March 21, 2002

Like so,

MSN blocks open source clients... Is this the end of the Internet as we know it?

Wombles struck dead by the BBC... Is this the end of positive childrens TV?

and so on...
posted by holloway at 3:23 PM on March 21, 2002

OR IS IT?
posted by holloway at 3:24 PM on March 21, 2002

See? Just like that. Yeah. That's just great.
posted by holloway at 3:24 PM on March 21, 2002

This may be off topic, but why is this link inside the thread instead of on the main Meta page?
posted by jessamyn at 3:37 PM on March 21, 2002

Strunk and White's finest: "Omit needless words."
posted by darukaru at 3:48 PM on March 21, 2002

jessamyn- have never been able to link directly from front page in metatalk. must be some bug in my browser.
posted by Voyageman at 3:56 PM on March 21, 2002

Strunk and White's finest: "Omit needless words."

It can be further abbreviated thus: Terse!
posted by kindall at 4:36 PM on March 21, 2002

Even more abbreviated: "Shh!"
posted by ColdChef at 6:02 PM on March 21, 2002

To all you haiku-haters out there, I present:

11. Keep it short from the initial conception. You can write a haiku faster than a sonnet, a sonnet faster than an epic.
posted by ColdChef at 6:04 PM on March 21, 2002

Gosh, if only Homer and Shakespeare would have read the line about epics and sonnets. What a lot of great literature could have been avoided for the sake of sounding like a a news reporter.
posted by bingo at 6:15 PM on March 21, 2002

.
posted by Ty Webb at 6:20 PM on March 21, 2002

Yes, Ty? Well, I'm just chipping in to say this thread is about as inspiring as it gets(excuse blatant self-link, but it's useful advice for us writer fiends).
posted by MiguelCardoso at 6:38 PM on March 21, 2002

Oh, I'm sorry, I was being succinct.
posted by Ty Webb at 6:50 PM on March 21, 2002

skallas: as mentioned above, [shift control A] doesnt work in my browser when posting to metatalk front page, only when inside. suggestions?
posted by Voyageman at 8:34 PM on March 21, 2002

It can be further abbreviated thus: Terse!
Touché.
posted by darukaru at 9:00 PM on March 21, 2002

[shift control A] doesnt work in my browser when posting to metatalk front page, only when inside. suggestions?

View source and see how a link works: <a href="YOUR_LINK_HERE">LINK_TEXT_HERE</a>. Easy peasy.
posted by sennoma at 9:55 PM on March 21, 2002

Sorry, but what does shift-control-A have to do with it?
posted by jjg at 10:22 PM on March 21, 2002

Voyagerman is learning HTML. Go Voyagerman!
posted by sudama at 11:18 PM on March 21, 2002

Sorry, but what does shift-control-A have to do with it?

On Windows you can shift-control-A to add a link. The fancy-pants JavaScript doesn't work on the Mac.
posted by kirkaracha at 12:51 AM on March 22, 2002

More info on the fanciness.
posted by kirkaracha at 12:53 AM on March 22, 2002

sennoma and kirkaracha: many thanks (and thumbs up on my way to pick up my new diploma). Tips to Write Quickly and Well evolves into Tips to Link Quickly and Well. Remarkable, all roads do lead to Rome.
posted by Voyageman at 5:45 AM on March 22, 2002