by Susan Lovett | Jun 5, 2018 | Writing |
I began my professional writing career with a major corporation. Soon after starting that job, I was thrilled when my boss praised me for writing clean. What my boss was trying to say was that she liked that I could write quickly and needed few edits (mostly for those darned dangling participial phrases I love). The problem with her praise was that it stunted my growth as a writer. I leaned into the idea of writing clean and gladly whipped up assignments with little to no edits and called it good. My boss was happy. I was happy. What more did I need to do?
The answer was: a lot.
by Susan Lovett | May 8, 2018 | Writing |
This is the final installation in my series on writing “rules.” If you missed the first two installments, you can read them here and here, respectively. These are the remaining “rules” of writing that all writers should know, with a couple of scriptwriting tips at the end for good measure.
by Susan Lovett | May 1, 2018 | Writing |
There aren’t any hard rules for writing, outside of grammar, but there are guidelines that help. In this series, I outline the most common axioms of writing. If you missed the first part of this article, you can read it here.
Here is the second set of guidelines for good writing:
by Susan Lovett | Apr 24, 2018 | Writing |
Blogs, books and articles often tout the “best” ways to write, but I am sorry to tell you there are no rules for writing—no easy short cuts. There is grammar, which is essential. There are the various elements of craft. And there are some axioms that hold true, which, while I won’t go so far as to call them rules, are great guidelines.
These are what I want to share today—the Axioms of Writing:
by Susan Lovett | Mar 13, 2018 | Scriptwriting, Writing |
In film, producers often use loglines to discuss the content of a film. A logline is a summary of the dramatic narrative in a story that makes it easier to encapsulate the idea and sell it. Basically, a logline is the core essence of your story in 25 words or less—the shortest form of narrative summary.
by Susan Lovett | Feb 27, 2018 | Writing |
I am against censorship of any form. Even the idea of censorship makes me angry. I’ve shared about this before in a blog about Banned Books, which was a blog about external censorship. Today I want to talk about the more insidious form of internal, self-censorship.
by Susan Lovett | Feb 20, 2018 | Writing |
They say imitation is the highest form of flattery, but I think they are wrong. Too often this sentiment leads to people trying to be someone they are not. In writing, it means imitating their writing style or voice to tragic ends. We’ve all seen it—copycat novels and writers trying to be the newest (insert famous author here).
by Susan Lovett | Feb 6, 2018 | Writing |
Somehow sitting down to plot a story always feel like an intellectual exercise. It’s a logical timeline of things that happen and the resultant consequences. But the trick to telling a good story does not come from the head—it comes from the heart.
by Susan Lovett | Jan 16, 2018 | Blog, Writing |
You want to get your work out there. You want to gain an audience. You want to build a platform. And so you post. It’s so easy. There are countless platforms and opportunities from personal blogs and websites to sharing sites, like Wattpad, not to mention digital media outlets. The problem is reckless posting can undermine your ultimate goal.
by Susan Lovett | Nov 28, 2017 | Writing |
Being a writer requires a strong foundation in many things. It’s more than banging out a few lines and hitting post. Like any profession, there are basics every writer needs to master. Grammar is your foundation, but there’s so much more.
Story doesn’t rely on how to use a semicolon or the definition of a dangling participial phrase. It needs understanding and ideas that come from a broader education and perspective.
by Susan Lovett | Oct 31, 2017 | Blog, Writing |
Last week, I shared my reasons for joining the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) Challenge to write a 50k book in 30 days. But I have more to say about the benefits of taking on such a large writing challenge.
Anytime you can set aside a chunk of time to write is a good thing, but dedicating an entire month to a huge goal allows you to be heroic about it.
by Susan Lovett | Oct 10, 2017 | Writing |
Clients often ask me about my process, wanting to know how I am going to spend my time on their project. It’s not an easy answer. I approach every project differently depending on what I’m writing. A script is different than a speech, which is different from an article or blog. There is no one answer. But there are basic steps in common.
