New thoughts on writing: Saturday night links
Speed link posts can get mixed reactions from readers – some people hate them (too impersonal maybe?) whereas others enjoy the chance to find new sites and explore new ideas. They can be a godsend for writers when you’re hitting blogger’s block, don’t have time to write great prose or just want to develop the habit of linking out.
I like to try and bundle any ‘links’ posts under a common theme. It makes it more interesting for me to write and I hope it also makes more sense for you, the reader. I’m struggling this week though to find the link that binds the links – other than that they all introduce some new ideas about writing. That includes some thoughts that I don’t necessarily agree with (the two pieces on gender and writing) – or would certainly want to explore further in order to develop an alternative point of view.
So (in no particular order) here’s five new ways of thinking about writing that I’ve learned this week:
New ways to edit: Gretchen at the Happiness Project suggests changing font before you start to edit. Worth a try – I change fonts in order to write in a different ‘voice’ so I can see how it would help the shift from writing to editing mode too
New thoughts on finishing a project: Angela Booth suggests that women might need different strategies for completing a project compared to men, as women are more process orientated, enjoying writing for its own sake rather than the finished product
New take on writing style: Patsi Krakoff suggests that women use more words than men because they cover emotional context as well as facts
New words to try: Brad Shorr’s blogs are the place to go if you want to expand your vocabulary and add new words – this week’s offering from Scrambled Toast was “myrmidon”. You’ll need to check out the post to find out what it means
New research on verbs: Writing Clear and Simple highlights some research into the impact on the brain of reading active verbs. As he says, it’s long been writing advice to use active verbs but it’s always good to learn more about the why.
I hope you enjoy exploring some of these new ideas. They’re taken from the writing blogroll that I try and follow during the course of the week.
If you’re writing great stuff that you think would be of interest don’t forget to leave a comment and say hello – it’s the easiest way for us to learn about your writing 
Hi Joanna, How’s your vocabulary expansion coming along? There are some doozies coming up on Scrambled Toast, and I’m going to have a Word Nerd emblem for you soon. Have a wonderful weekend!
Hi Joanna, I’m one of the readers that enjoys well done link posts. When it comes down to it, blogging is really about sharing information and a good descriptive lead with link is a valuable resource.
Thanks for the great post.
Hi Brad, I’m working on it. Now “doozies” – that’s an interesting word. Something unique and outstanding – right? But is it US slang?
As for the word nerd emblem – bring it on!
Joanna
Hi Wendy, it’s good to hear from you. Thanks for the feedback on links posts – I think they work with the descriptive lead too. Thanks also for the reminder that at the end of the day blogging is about sharing
Joanna
Joanna, that’s right. “Doozy” is American slang. I think it comes from the Deusenberg automobile, which was manufactured in the USA back in the early 1900′s.
Joanna,
Thanks for the link. It’s nice to find a writing coach out there, because I’m trying to build a business around that idea. I’m going to be checking both of your blogs from now on.
Hi Roy, it’s good to hear from you. I hope you find some useful stuff here – and look forward to sharing ideas with you about ways of writing – and coaching other people to write – with confidence.
Joanna
Hi Brad
Thanks for the doozy info. It’s always good to learn more about words from the other side of the Atlantic
Joanna
Another nice list of links, with some interesting views on writing that I thoroughly enjoyed reading.
While unable to really make comment on the finishing of projects as discussed by Angela, I’d have to disagree with Patsi. At least, from my viewpoint as a fiction writer. While it’s true that women will write with more elaboration on emotion, which is a key stimulus for women (or so I’ve read), men are more visual. As such, what I see happen is that the amount women will write regarding emotions, men will spend on creative visual stimuli in their work. This generally balances out the word count.
At least, that’s what I’ve found. How about you?
Matt, I haven’t thought about that in relation to writers and authors. My instinct would be to say it’s not likely to be gender specific, but more likely to come from our representational preferences – whether we’re primarily visual, auditory or kinaesthetic