50 Tools that can Increase your Writing Skills
We found this while cruising though Bloglines last night. If you are writing anything at all, odds are you'll improve your skills by spending some time at the Poynter Institute. So without delay, here is a list of a whopping 50 articles that we should all read (yes, I said we because my writing tends to lack in a few dozen areas!)
First, a little about Poynter: The values supporting these guidelines are rooted in Poynter’s dedication to teaching and inspiring journalists and media leaders. Poynter is a school that promotes excellence and integrity in the practices of craft and the practical leadership of successful businesses. It stands for a journalism that informs citizens, builds community, and enlightens public discourse. In our publishing, we strive to practice the kind of journalism we preach.
- Writing Tool #1: Branch to the Right
- Writing Tool #2: Use Strong Verbs
- Writing Tool #3: Beware of Adverbs
- Writing Tool #4: Period As a Stop Sign
- Writing Tool #5: Observe Word Territory
- Writing Tool #6: Play with Words
- Writing Tool #7: Dig for the Concrete and Specific
- Writing Tool #8: Seek Original Images
- Writing Tool #9: Prefer Simple to Technical
- Writing Tool #10: Recognize Your Story’s Roots
- Writing Tool #11 Back Off or Show Off
- Writing Tool #12: Control the Pace
- Writing Tool #13: Show and Tell
- Writing Tool #14: Interesting Names
- Writing Tool #15: Reveal Character Traits
- Writing Tool #16: Odd and Interesting Things
- Writing Tool #17: The Number of Elements
- Writing Tool #18: Internal Cliffhangers
- Writing Tool #19: Tune Your Voice
- Writing Tool #20: Narrative Opportunities
- Writing Tool #21: Quotes and Dialogue
- Writing Tool #22: Get Ready
- Writing Tool #23: Place Gold Coins Along the Path
- Writing Tool #24: Name the Big Parts
- Writing Tool #25: Repeat
- Writing Tool #26: Fear Not the Long Sentence
- Writing Tool #27: Riffing for Originality
- Writing Tool #28: Writing Cinematically
- Writing Tool #29: Report for Scenes
- Writing Tool #30: Write Endings to Lock the Box
- Writing Tool #31: Parallel Lines
- Writing Tool #32: Let It Flow
- Writing Tool #33: Rehearsal
- Writing Tool #34: Cut Big, Then Small
- Writing Tool #35: Use Punctuation
- Writing Tool #36: Write A Mission Statement for Your Story
- Writing Tool #37: Long Projects
- Writing Tool #38: Polish Your Jewels
- Writing Tool #39: The Voice of Verbs
- Writing Tool #40: The Broken Line
- Writing Tool #41: X-Ray Reading
- Writing Tool #42: Paragraphs
- Writing Tool #43: Self-criticism
- Writing Tool #44: Save String
- Writing Tool #45: Foreshadow
- Writing Tool #46: Storytellers, Start Your Engines
- Writing Tool #47: Collaboration
- Writing Tool #48: Create An Editing Support Group
- Writing Tool #49: Learn from Criticism
- Writing Tool #50: The Writing Process
These should certainly keep you busy for a while. In case you missed the link above, visit the Poynter Institute for additional resources. Consideration to: Lifehack.org because we subscribe to their feed which pointed to this site and to del.icio.us because it was their keyword RSS feed that revealed it.
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