subject: Is Publishing Dead? Nope! [print this page] Is Publishing Dead? Nope! Is Publishing Dead? Nope!
Despite traditional publishing's calamitous record these days, there's never been a better time for writersor businessesto attract readers if they do it right according to bestselling writer and acclaimed writing coach Linden Gross.
It seems as if almost everyone wants to write a book at some time in his or her life, but getting it published is getting harder and harder. A decade ago, the decline of the publishing industry was downright depressing, calamitous even for professional writers or people with a personal story to tell or a message to convey.
Enter on demand publishing, websites, social media, blogs (50 million and counting!), and e-magazines. The release of Amazon's new Kindle changes the publishing scene even more. Unfortunately, too many people have jumped at these venues ill-prepared at best. Like it or not, words reflect upon their author way longer than we would sometimes like. Publishing a book, website, Facebook entry or blog replete with mistakes or language written by a non-native speaker makes the writer look like an amateur.
"You have just five to eight seconds to catch a reader online," says popular writing coach Linden Gross. "Conversely, you can lose readers in the time it takes them to have a sip of coffee if you fail to engage them and then hold their interest. In short, you can't afford to beor to hirea bad writer. "
That's why increasing numbers of experienced and aspiring writers are turning to writing coaches like Gross, who draws on her background inediting,writing and teachingwhen working with others. This national magazine journalist and bestselling writer helps take the angstand the mysteryout of writing, witness her seven simple rules for writing just about anything:
1) Jump in and get started. Don't worry about what you're saying, how it sounds or whether you've said it before. Just get the words out. There will be plenty of time to prune, re-organize and edit later.
2) Whether you're writing a business letter or a novel, create an outline so you know where you're goingyou have a much better chance of getting there that way. Remember that each paragraph (or chapter) makes a single argument. And each paragraph (or chapter) needs to be linked one to the other.
Think of a train. The locomotive provides the power that pulls the whole thing along. That's your lead paragraph (or chapter). Each car (or paragraph or chapter) has its own content, which is linked to the car before it and the car after it. Those links are called transitions. The caboose (or conclusion) wraps the whole thing up.
3) Opt for dynamic action verbs that make your text come alive instead of weak favorites like "to be" or "to have."
Weak: There are many great deals out there.
Strong: Great deals abound.
Weak: The farmers were fearful that their crop would fail and their family would starve.
Strong: The farmers feared the potential failure of their crops. Their families would surely starve.
4) Avoid passive sentences in favor of more vigorous sentence construction:
Passive: This charming house will save you money.
Active: Save money and buy this charming house now.
Passive: My family's history is long, extending back to 18th century Scotland.
Active: My family's long history extends back to 18th century Scotland.
5) State your position as fact. Qualifiers (such as I think, I feel, I believe, it seems to me) just weaken your argument.
Qualified: We feel that this is the time to buy.
Strong: This is the time to buy.
Qualified: I believe that my family's story typifies the immigrant experience.
Strong: My family's story typifies the immigrant experience.
6) Go big on detail and texture when writing a storywhether short or long, fiction or non-fiction. You want your reader to feel like a bug on the wall witnessing the experience you're chronicling, so write in terms of all five senses: sight, sound, feel, smell, taste. Assume that our bug has the ability to read thoughts and pinpoint feelings, and include those as well.
7) Cut the fat. Tightening your writing by eliminating all those little filler words that don't enhance meaning adds power to your text.
Wordy: She was thinking about all this as she wandered along the mountain trails when she stumbled on the hut.
Powerful: Lost in thought, she stumbled on the mountain hut.
"Though it helps to consider these rules when working on your initial draft, they'll mostly come into play during the editing phase," says Gross. "So put your inner editor on hold until then; otherwise you run the risk of criticism-induced writing paralysis (also known as writer's block). You'll have plenty of time to drag out your inner editor once you have a completed draft. Until then, just write!"
