Find Your Writing Style
Jun 8th, 07 | 4 remarksBeing a good writer doesn’t mean memorizing the dictionary or all the rules of writing. You don’t need the latest, best or most popular tools. Hemingway himself used only a simple Moleskine notebook. Part of being a good writer (at least as it applies to blogging), does mean freely incorporating your personality and style into your work. In conjunction with the tools at your disposal, and the experience you have to draw from, this is what forms your voice in the world.
E.B. White once said:
“I felt uneasy at posing as an expert on rhetoric, when the truth is I write by ear, always with difficulty, and seldom with any exact notion of what is taking place under the hood.”
I love this quote because it personifies exactly how I feel about my own writing sometimes (and I consider language to be one of my strong suits!). It’s comforting, in a way, to know that such a well known and respected writer could feel that way about his work.
If you find yourself wishing to improve your writing skills and subsequently “find your voice”, I suggest White’s book, The Elements of Style. There’s an illustrated version as well, if your reading list is long and time is short. You might also consider paying a visit to these notable resources:
- Daily Writing Tips - simple ways to improve your writing
- CopyBlogger - strong focus specifically on copywriting
In addition, A List Apart has two thought provoking articles on How to Write a Better Weblog, and 10 Tips on Writing the Living Web.
One last little tip - if you’re looking to expand your vocabulary, a fun and easy way to do it is by adding a “word of the day” module or gadget to your favorite personalized homepage. Before you know it you’ll be spitting out words like pedantic and pontificate. ;) Oh and the dictionary.com search plugin for Firefox is very handy for looking up unknown words on the fly!
I find that the more I write, the more I find my writing style. Sometimes, I go back to old things that I’ve written and I wonder to myself, who was that guy?!?
Jun 8, 07 | 11:05 pmThanks for the links. I am a victim of rambling on and not planning what I am going to write first(writing off the cuff), but then I have had some really nice emails with people saying they like the way I write because it seems “real”. I guess as Wallet suggests like everything writing gets better with practice.
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