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(Also published at Huffington Post.) Last time, I talked about how to give your writing more impact by using nouns and verbs that represent objects and actions in the real world. It works because what moves us is emotion, and emotion is inherently physical. Today we take that lesson to the next level: from nouns and verbs to metaphors, which use objects and actions to … [Read more...] about How to Write Fast and Well, Part 8: Block that Metaphor!

(Also published at Huffington Post.) Last time, I showed you how to improve your writing simply by getting rid of adjectives and adverbs. Instead, I said, use the right nouns and verbs. This time: how to find those nouns and verbs. The key is to remember that we invented nouns and verbs to stand for things and actions that we can see, hear, feel, smell or taste: "I bit … [Read more...] about How to Write Fast and Well, Part 7: Get Physical

(Also published at Huffington Post.) “How will I ever learn to be a good writer?” It's a scary question - and the hell of it is, the more you appreciate good writing, the scarier it gets. But it turns out there's a non-scary answer to how to be good: just avoid being bad. Think of it as the Sherlock Holmes technique: “When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever … [Read more...] about How to Write Both Fast & Well, Part 6: The Case of the Murdered Modifiers

(Also published at Huffington Post.) Last time, I showed you how to give your writing some shape by using the Inverted Pyramid format. As I said, this shape works well for news, because the reader finds more important material closer to the top. This has a downside, though: the farther you go into the piece, the less interesting it's likely to be. So it doesn't work too well … [Read more...] about How to Write Both Fast & Well, Part 5: An Ancient Lesson in Three Acts

(Also published at Huffington Post.) So far in this series, I've been helping you find out exactly what you want to say. I've argued that getting that right makes everything else easier, faster, and probably better. Now I'll turn from what to say to how. The first thing to know: give your writing a shape. One of the most common weaknesses of amateur writing is its lack of a … [Read more...] about How to Write Both Fast & Well, Part 4: Flip Your Pyramid