Author Archives: robanderik

In many forms of writing, the first sentence is crucial to grabbing the reader’s interest. This is true in journalism, marketing and creative writing, though less so in technical writing (anyone remember the first line of their Windows operating manual?). There are two ways of approaching your opening line. One: Express the essence of theContinue reading “F=First Impressions Count (Feb 7)”

We tend to write long. We have things we want to say, and we grow attached to them, either for their power as argument, for their novelty, or because they sound nice. But that is pride. Your pride is not serving the reader. So counteract your pride – which is not altogether a bad thing,Continue reading “E = Exact Word Count (Feb 6)”

A good story maps then pursues authentic emotion. As the song goes, ya gotta have heart. Let’s take film as an example. The movie Interstellar follows the connection between a father and daughter. The Blues Brothers sang and danced with rhythm and blues legends in an effort to earn redemption. Under the skintight costume Spider-ManContinue reading “D=Drive to the Heart of the Matter (Feb 5)”

Music has many lessons for writers, from rhythm to the simple value of the sounds of words, to structure (the movie-score composer Hans Zimmer says each piece of a score asks a question, then answers it in a way that leads towards the next question – we will look at this more in the essayContinue reading “C=Computer or Paper? (Feb 4)”

There are a thousand tomes on writing – including this one (we’ll provide a reading list of them when we get to Z in our final lesson). Looking for a guide to how words work in a creative way? Consider Imaginative Writing: The Elements of Craft by Janet Burroway. Burroway breaks the book into twoContinue reading “B=Burroway & Takeaways: What Books on Craft Can Do (Feb 3)”

A: ALWAYS READ BACKWARDS To improve your writing, read your work backwards. This is an editing technique that forces you to look at your words more carefully. You will see flaws you missed before. Why? Because when you read the normal way, front to back, your brain races ahead of your eye. It sees whatContinue reading “A=Always Read Backwards (Feb 2)”