Quotes

Today I want to talk about using quotes. First, an admission. I don’t have anything original to say on the topic.

Why use quotes?

In the words of Joe Glaser in Understanding Style, “At times the best words you can use are someone else’s.” Paul LaRocque in The Concise Guide to Copy Editing states, “Quotations add life, authority and veracity to a story …”

How long should they be?

LaRocque’s advice to editors is to not be “slaves to the quoted word. Paraphrase when necessary. Cut when necessary.” If you’re quoting someone you’ve interviewed, put yourself in the position of your reader. Would you want to read every word they said. Thing is, when we speak we use a lot of redundancy. We say things over and over again. Repeatedly. It’s not nice to read, is it? So be ruthless. Cut.

Very Important Thing to Remember

Attribute the quote. Don’t pretend the words are yours if they are not. In most writing it is enough to use the name of the person who wrote or said the words. Glaser says, “Include the title of the piece if you think it will be useful to the reader.” He also states that in academia and research there are more rigorous requirements which you must follow.

An otherwise dull piece of work can be enlivened by quotes. They change the pace. They add another voice, and thus add interest. They can also lead the reader to discover new insights when they follow up on the source of a quote. 

Useful things really.

Turning Planning Upside Down

I don’t like planning. I’m not particularly spontaneous, but I’m not that skilled when it comes to planning either. I have to force myself to do it. 

Everything I read suggests planning should happen at the beginning, before writing. You know. You have an idea for an article. You work out the structure. You write down the main points and then you fill in the content later.

Or, for those of us who are more “visual”, there’s the mind map. Write words in colour, join them together, add some pictures. It’s still planning.

Problem is sometimes the ideas just aren’t there at the beginning. I look at my topic and try to think of the main points and my mind goes blank. In fact this is what happens to me most of the time. If I try to plan up front I end up with a piece of paper, one or two words, and I’m in a panic because I don’t have a clue what to put down as my main headings.

That said I have discovered a technique that works for me. I write, then plan, then write, then edit.

This is how it works:

•  A client commissions me to write on a certain topic or I have an idea for an article 

• I sit at my computer and start typing. I just put down all the things I can think of about the topic (and I admit, sometimes I get ideas for other articles. When this happens I open another document and dump them in there while I think of them.)

• When I run out of things to type I look at what I’ve written and, on a sheet of paper, write an outline. I work out which order my existing paragraphs need to go in and design an overview

•  As I’m doing the overview more ideas pop into my head and I include them. If I feel like writing about them straight away, I do that (no point in letting the muse escape)

• I look to see where there are gaps – what have I put in the overview that I haven’t written about, what do I need to research?

• I write the additional bits

• I put everything in order

• I have a cup of coffee (well, let me be honest here – I probably have more than one cup of coffee, I might watch an episode of my current favourite TV show, have a good night’s sleep, go out, read a book – what I’m saying is, “I take a break.”)

•  Next it’s time to look at the file again. I read it aloud. Does it flow? Does it make sense? Am I repeating words? What about the rhythm?

• I polish, scrub and shine what I have written

• Another cup of coffee (etc. etc. etc.)

• Back for another read (aloud – this is important) and a final polish

• Done

Next time you're stumped at the planning stage, try writing. You’re a writer after all, not a planner. So write. Planning can happen later.

A word or two about writing ebooks

I’ve been researching writing and publishing ebooks and thought it might be useful to put together some of the tips I’ve picked up for those of you thinking of following this path.

1.      My top tip – If you’ve never written a book, or thought about writing a book, an ebook is a great way to start. Whereas the thought of writing hundreds of pages for a traditional book can be overwhelming, writing and publishing ebooks is much more manageable. For a start, they are shorter. And you don’t have to agonise for hours about whether you will find an agent or a publisher – you can publish them yourself. Easily. Cheaply.

2.      Debbie Dragon at ReliableWriters.com says you should start with a road map. It's excellent advice. By putting together your road map - marking the start, finish and landmarks along the route - you’re making the project manageable. You're dividing the book into bite-size chunks, and you’re working out about how long the book’s going to be. Once you’ve decided on the topic for your ebook, open a document in your word processor or text editor and add the following:

a.       Title page – just the title and author – nothing fancy at this stage

b.      The chapter headings listed as a table of contents (the main topics you plan to cover)

Then write each chapter as though it were a separate article.

3.      Write. It does seem odd to say this, but when I started I ended up preparing outlines but never actually writing the books. If you don’t write it, you can’t sell it. You can’t even give it to your family.

Musings about Editing

Most of us make errors when we write. That’s what drafts are for. Australian author Peter Carey reportedly wrote twelve drafts of his novel The Tax Inspector. Some people do a series of edits, each focusing on a different aspect of their writing – it could be a plot thread, a location, a particular character, narrative voice, verb choice. However you do it, one thing is important in both fiction and non-fiction writing – getting rid of the words that you don’t need, that don’t fit or that are downright wrong.

Here are some tips on how to do it:

1.      Get rid of wordy phrases. You know the type of thing: “at this point in time”, “in order to”. Short and clear is what you are aiming for, especially in business writing. And it’s not just the number of words. Be thrifty with syllables. When you’re tempted to use a three or four syllable word, see if you can find one that works as well but only has one or two syllables.

2.      Use everyday words. When you see an “expedite” or “optimize” creeping into your sentence, or if an event is going to “afford an opportunity”, stop. Think. Look up dictionaries, thesauruses, anything. Find another way to write it.  

3.      Avoid clichés. They are tired. Refuse to use any phrase or expression you’ve heard often before. As Mark Tredinnick writes in The Little Red Writing Book, “they belong to someone else.” Write every sentence your way.

Once you’ve banished the useless words, there are a couple of other things to think about – your sentences and the logical flow of your writing. 

1.      Use different sentence structures. Mix up short and long sentences, simple and complex sentences. Add variety in form, always remembering the importance of clarity. Keep your writing interesting. But don’t write long sentences just for the sake of it. Write them when you need them.

2.      Work from a plan when you write. If you are editing something that you didn’t plan, read it and write out the plan. Are the ideas expressed in logically? Have you used paragraphs correctly? If you didn’t plan first, at least make the effort to plan afterwards and fix up any errors.

Many people believe that setting down the ideas is the most interesting, and therefore most important, aspect of writing. But writing is about communicating. You might be setting the ideas down, and they may be brilliant ideas, but someone else is going to be reading them. You want to be sure that they understand what you mean and, if possible, that they enjoy reading your work.