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The Writing Center: The Real Story
http://tuneyourwriting.blogspot.com/2009/05/real-story.html
Saturday, May 2, 2009. In the age of technology, books and newspapers face stiff competition. Americans spend huge chunks of time watching television, surfing the Internet, gawking at You Tube and scrolling through Facebook. How can writers begin to compete? Hewitt said that most stories on “60 Minutes” rely on the dramatic structure common to all good stories: conflict, struggle and resolution. He called them, “little morality plays.”. It’s not the facts about the city council meeting, the teabag ...
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The Writing Center: January 2009
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Sunday, January 18, 2009. See you in February! I'm combining January and February into one blog, so check back in early February. Subscribe to: Posts (Atom). See you in February! View my complete profile.
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The Writing Center: April 2009
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Wednesday, April 1, 2009. Dorothy Parker (1893-1967), an American writer best known for her sarcastic wit, once said, “I hate writing; I love having written.”. It doesn’t matter if you’re a student hammering out a term paper, a manager pounding out a report or a professional writer eking out a story just under deadline, the pressure builds. We agonize, procrastinate, flounder and finally, we choke out a draft. “Why is it so hard? 8221; my clients ask. The Process Approach breaks down writing into a logic...
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The Writing Center: February 2009
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Sunday, February 1, 2009. Robert Browning said it best: “Less is more.”. So why do we write as though “more is better”? Why do we use five words when one is sufficient? Why do we think we sound smarter if we use fancy words over simple? Why do we use passive language when arguing a point? Why do we dodge and evade when the goal is communication? Why all the repetitious redundancies? Why are we full of hot air? Sometimes readers slog through so much clutter they have no idea what the writer means by the s...
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The Writing Center: November 2008
http://tuneyourwriting.blogspot.com/2008_11_01_archive.html
Thursday, November 6, 2008. Don't Forget the Road Map. Over the last few weeks, the Rogue Valley's Indian summer has given way to rain and fog. When my kids were young, they'd squeal with delight when they'd wake to the drizzly or foggy mornings of November, because they knew- being native Oregonians- that the holiday season was just around the corner. But if formal outlining works for you as a prewriting tool, by all means, use it! With the second strategy, I dispense with the list altogether and just p...
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The Writing Center: August 2009
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Wednesday, August 12, 2009. Showing v. Telling. As I said in last month’s blog, it’s been a delight to catch up with former students on Facebook. A small group of students I taught many years ago in a creative writing class remain my all-time favorite—and through the magic of Facebook, I’ve become reacquainted with a few of them. 8221; I admit, I preached “show, don’t tell” like the gospel. 8221; (Of course she has! Probably not. Be selective. Subscribe to: Posts (Atom). Showing v. Telling.
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The Writing Center: December 2008
http://tuneyourwriting.blogspot.com/2008_12_01_archive.html
Tuesday, December 2, 2008. 8220;There are years that ask questions. And years that answer.”. It’s early December, which means it’s time for me to write the annual holiday letter—because in my family, the task always falls to me. Then I remember today’s priority. I march back upstairs and as I plop down in front of the computer, I catch a whiff of myself. Phew! After all that walking and vacuuming, I have no alternative but to shower. 1) To remember who my audience is—friends and family—who ac...2) To wri...
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The Writing Center: July 2009
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Thursday, July 2, 2009. In Defense of Facebook. A version of this month’s blog was published in July’s edition of The Jacksonville Review, as a rebuttal to the publisher’s note that appeared in May’s issue of The Review. You see … well … I have a confession to make: I use Facebook … that’s right. And I’m getting tired of Facebook-cynics’ knee jerk reactions to the mere mention of FACEBOOK (let alone invitations to join! But he didn’t stop there. “Here in Jacksonville,” he conjecture...I use Facebook and ...
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The Writing Center: See you in July!
http://tuneyourwriting.blogspot.com/2009/06/see-you-in-july.html
Friday, June 5, 2009. See you in July! I'm on vacation this month, but I'll be back in July! Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom). See you in July! View my complete profile.
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The Writing Center: March 2009
http://tuneyourwriting.blogspot.com/2009_03_01_archive.html
Sunday, March 1, 2009. Use the Active Voice. Having worked with writers of all different ages and education backgrounds, I’ve observed first-hand that most of us possess an innate sense of what makes good writing—even if we don’t have the terminology to explain it. It doesn’t matter if it’s been 30 years since our last grammar lesson or if we missed grammar altogether. We know good writing when we read it or hear it. But if I ask you which sentence in the following pairs sounds better:. One strategy for ...
