If becoming an exceptional writer is your goal, keep this story in mind:
A brain surgeon and a writer were having coffee one day when the brain surgeon announced he was taking a six-week sabbatical and would use the time off to write a book. The writer responded by saying that was an amazing coincidence. He was taking a six-week sabbatical as well and would use the time to become a brain surgeon.
Great writing is a craft. A difficult craft.
Here at HeBlogsSheBlogs.com, you’ll learn how to improve your craft. For starters, we’d like to recommend several writing resources we consider “must-haves”:
- The Chicago Manual of Style
, 15th Edition – The definitive style guide for aspiring and professional writers. Spendy, but worth it.
- Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation
, by Lynne Truss – Who knew punctuation could be so much fun? This little book keeps you laughing—and learning.
- The First Five Pages: A Writer’s Guide to Staying Out of the Rejection Pile
, by Noah Lukeman – Written by a literary agent, this quick read teaches you “how to identify and avoid bad writing.”
- Thesaurus.com – Need the perfect word? Just type in a related word and get instant gratification – an exhaustive list of synonyms.
Check out our new workshop:
WRITING TIGHT
An Exercise in Self-Editing
Have you ever set out to write 500 words and ended up writing 5,000? Worse yet, have you ever struggled to cut a 5,000-word document to 500 words?
It truly is more difficult to write short than long. If you describe your writing as “wordy,” “verbose,” or “long-winded,” this workshop is for you. Professional writers, Laura Christianson and Jim Rubart, will help you dissect a short piece you’ve written. You’ll learn a simple self-editing technique for cutting the junk and getting to the meat of your message.
This 2-hour, hands-on seminar can be tailored for business/technical writers, high school/college students, and writers’ events. For information about how to tailor this workshop for your event, please contact He Blogs, She Blogs.
