Writing Tools 55 Essentials Strategies For Every Writer Roy Peter Clark English

Introduction: A Nation of Writers
I. Nuts and Bolts
1. Begin sentences with subjects and verbs.
2. Order words for emphasis.
3. Activate your verbs.
4. Be passive aggressive.
5. Watch those adverbs.
6. Take it easy on the ¿ings.¿
7. Fear not the long sentence.
8. Establish a pattern, then give it a twist.
9. Let punctuation control pace and space.
10. Cut big, then small.
II. Special Effects
11. Prefer the simple over the technical.
12. Give key words their space.
13. Play with words, even in serious stories.
14. Get the name of the dog.
15. Pay attention to names.
16. Seek original images.
17. Riff on the creative language of others.
18. Set the pace with sentence length.
19. Vary the lengths of paragraphs.
20. Choose the number of elements with a purpose.
21. Know when to back off and when to show off.
22. Climb up and down the ladder of abstraction.
FM-6
23. Tune your voice.
III. Blueprints
24. Work from a plan.
25. Learn the difference between reports and stories.
26. Use dialogue as a form of action.
27. Reveal traits of character.
28. Put odd and interesting things next to each other.
29. Foreshadow dramatic events or powerful conclusions.
30. To generate suspense, use internal cliffhangers.
31. Build your work around a key question.
32. Place gold coins along the path.
33. Repeat, repeat, repeat.
34. Write from different cinematic angles.
35. Report and write for scenes.
36. Mix narrative modes.
37. In short works, don¿t waste a syllable.
38. Prefer archetypes to stereotypes.
39. Write towards an ending.
IV. Useful Habits
40. Draft a mission statement for your work.
41. Turn procrastination into rehearsal.
42. Do your homework well in advance.
43. Read for both form and content.
44. Save string.
45. Break long projects into parts.
46. Take interest in all crafts that support your work.
FM-7
47. Recruit your own support group.
48. Limit self-criticism in early drafts.
49. Learn from your critics.
50. Own the tools of your craft.
Afterword
Acknowledgments
Summary: Roy Peter Clark¿s Toolbox
Index