NeoBluePanther

Writing, Among Other Things

Category: Blogging (Page 12 of 16)

Article Writing Tip – 3

February 27, 2008 / / 5 Comments

fountain pen Style is an important part of writing, and one that no one who hopes to be a writer, or a blogger for that matter, can afford to ignore.

Style can be said to be  made up of two parts.

The first is the writing style. As we continue on our writing journey, we consciously or sub-consciously begin to develop a style that is our own. This style is based on what we have read over the years. When we like something we read, it leaves a lasting impression on us, and this impression affects our writing.

To a great extent, this style is a result of extensive reading and practise. But, like most things, there are ways to improve upon your style. The easiest way to do it is read more. Make a habit of reading something every day.

 As I said in a previous post , reading is one of the three major inputs into the writing system. So, reading a wide variety of subjects will enhnace one’s writing even if it does not affect the style. Though I am sure that if you read on diverse topics and by different authors you will develop a style and one that will be liked by one and all.

The second element of style, that is especially relevant for bloggers and article writers, is presentation. You, as the writer, know what part of the article you want the reader to focus on, and what part you want to emphasize, therfore you have to correspondingly bold, underline or italicize the words in your article, or blog post.

Using short paragraphs, and as few words as possible to communicate your meaning is another important aspect of presentation that can be learnt.  And once again reading the writings of different authors can prove very helpful in your endeavour to present your article in a better way!

Till next time!

DR: Abhi's Life-1

February 24, 2008 / / 2 Comments

(After reading the comments on writing a short story in serial form post, I decided to try my hand at posting another short novella in serial form on this blog.  Since I have written only three chapters till now, I am thinking that this story could evolve in a new direction with the reader’s involvement.  So, if you like, you could tell me what you think should happen next after reading each post. To stay updated with the story, you could subscribe to the blog via email)

As Abhi walked home that day he did not know that soon his life was going to change forever. There was no way he could have known what was waiting for him at home. Even if he had known about the email in his inbox, he had no reason to think too much about it.

Abhi had got introduced to computers not long ago, and he had fallen in love with computers on the very first day.

At first, it was the simple pleasure of sitting at the computer, typing out his assignments and papers. Sometimes, he just sat there drawing something random on a software that had come pre-installed on his computer. The results of his efforts were always childish, but he derived immense pleasure from them.

Then, he had graduated to playing games. Starting from simple ones like Solitaire, he had become a full-blown games addict. At 21, sometimes, he felt that he had missed out on a lot in his earlier years and now it was a bit too late for him to be playing computer games, but then he would tell himself, ”Age is just a number.”

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Article Writing Tip-2

February 8, 2008 / / 2 Comments

Always keep the reader in mind, but choose a subject you are comfortable with.

Writing should come naturally, they say. And I agree with them. But not all writers are lucky enough to write what comes naturally to them and, then, get paid for it.

Even if you don’t write for money, I am sure you write to be read. And for that you have to write about something that would be of interest to a potential reader.

While you are choosing the subject, you have to ensure that what you have chosen does not fall outside your comfort zone. Sometimes it is easy to get carried away.

A perfect example would be all the money making blogs out in the blogosphere. Just because there is an audience that is dying to read about making money online, you don’t have to start writing on the subject.

On the contrary, if there is something that you are an expert at, you might create an audience for it, even if none exists.

Don’t you agree?

Writing a story in serial form

January 31, 2008 / / 6 Comments

For some reason I thought the idea of posting a story on my blog was a good idea.

Since the story was long, the obvious thing to do was break it up in parts and post it in serial form, which, I thought, was another great idea.

But my experience with the story I posted ( The Bank Robbery) tells me otherwise.

The reason could either be that the story I wrote was not good enough to compel the reader to go back to the start and follow the story to the end, or it could be that the idea of writing a story in serial form on a blog is not a good idea.

I think a better way to showcase your writing on your blog is to have a separate page for it. What do you think?

"How To…"

January 26, 2008 / / 4 Comments

There is something about “how to” books that grabs the reader’s attention and makes him want to buy the book. I think my first “how to” book was named ” How to become a writer?”

Needless to say, that book did not help me a lot. Was it because the book was not good or because I was too young to understand it then, can be debated. But, the book was not a complete waste of money.

At that time whatever I wrote was in long hand. The book said if you are aspiring to be a writer you should have a word processor, or at the least a typewriter. Since buying a computer was not even a option, I began to look for typewriters.

I began to save my pocket money in the hope of buying a typewriter.  Every time I saw an advertisement in the paper for a typewriter, my eyes would be filled with a deep yearning. Of course, I couldn’t tell about my desire to my parents because writing to them was merely, “a waste of time”.

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