Roaring writers meme

Kathy Kehrli of Screw You! has tagged me for an interesting new meme: Having been tagged with the Roar for Powerful Words Award, I now have to blog about three writing tips and tag five other writers.




According to the Roar for Powerful Words Award page, the idea is for me to list "three things [I] believe are necessary to make writing good and powerful." So here goes:

1. Write about what you believe in (or, conversely, believe in what you write about). I've written copy for topics I don't particularly support, and it sucks. Not only is it difficult to make the copy compelling, but it also makes you feel rather dirty, like the quintessential used car salesman.

2. Write when you are inspired. This doesn't mean that you shouldn't write if you're not inspired, but it does mean that when the light bulb suddenly turns on, when you are hit with a great idea or find yourself writing the material in your head, DO NOT simply take notes and save it for later. When you are feeling the most passionate about the subject, the words will flow out onto the page with little or not effort — but it will take a lot of effort to try to recapture that mood later on.

3. Don't forget to revise! Although I recommend writing when you are most inspired, I also will be the first to admit that passion doesn't always come out neat and clean on the page. When the inspiration hits, get your rough draft down, but plan to go back over it after a period of time has elapsed — after the impassioned frenzy passes, you'll be better able to catch mistakes and see room for improvement.

Sharing the Roar:

I am awarding the Roar for Powerful Words to the following five people:

1. Harmony, because I am SO glad she's back!
2. Amy Derby, because I don't know of anyone who works harder at being a freelancer
3. Michele Tune, who has done amazing things...and survived to write about it
4. Mariella, whose dedication — to her writing, to her family, and to the writing community — I respect very much
5. An honorary Roar goes back to Kathy; even though she has already participated in this meme, I can't deny that her blog is one of the most powerful writer's blogs that I know of.

Have fun!