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.