Advantages to traveling as a single gal: Doing laundry for one person, packing for one person, having suitcase all to myself, soul decision on where and if to eat at airport, soul decision on how to spend travel time and money, no longer matters if my seat gets changed. Disadvantages of traveling as a single gal: Eating at airport alone, no extra peanuts on plane, missing the one important person to share the fun with. - DLE
 

I found myself the other day without my laptop but felt the urge to write. As I was scribbling away on a piece of paper, I realized that I had to give extra thought to each word I captured forever in ink. There was no backspace key for me to push and erase the sloppy sentence or misspelled word. I had to really concentrate so that each word and sentence was at its best when first laid to the page.

Modern technology, like the spell check, has made a writers’ life easier, but has it made us dependent on it. I noticed that my spelling habits weakened when relying on the spell check function. It took a lot of work not to rely on the spell check function but to, for pity sake, get the dictionary. Writing the other day without this modern technology made me wonder if the quality of my writing weakened knowing that I can go back at any time and edit. Are we better off giving minutes of thought to every single word put to a piece of paper?

Well here is my conclusion; I think that modern technology can only lessen the quality of a writer’s writing if solely depended on. Personally, I find that having the ability to backspace through a poor sentence is helpful. I have learned to not accept what I have written as perfection but know that it can always be improved upon. The backspace key has simply allowed me to do this in an easier way. Unlike the spell check function, the backspace key can’t tell you when your sentence is sloppy or poorly written. The backspace key can’t tell you that your introduction is weak and un-intriguing. It cannot be set to automatic delete. Although at times I wish it could stop me in my typing and say, “What are you thinking?” delete, delete, delete.

The pen and page will forever be tools attached to a writer’s hip. However, I feel we shouldn’t take for granted the new and improved, especially the little key called, backspace. Sometimes it is the smallest things that make the largest differences. The backspace may just be another key on your keyboard but it makes big changes.











 

Today as I was plunking at the keyboard, I realized that I must write hundreds of words a day, if not more. In preparation for a seminar, presentation, marketing materials, and just general client correspondence the word limit is countless. There is no limit to how much I actually write a day. Though my employer takes the credit for it or presents the material that I wrote, he is using my words, words that I put on paper.

Does this mean that I am a published copywriter? Does this mean that I have an actual 10 years of professional experience in writing? Hmm, I ponder.

However minor, I have found that any experience in a trade whether it is writing, cooking, decorating, landscaping, or painting is valuable. That experience is so valuable that we can use it on a resume, a resume that may get our foot in the door for a job that we don’t entirely qualify for. Assuming that it is the same in the literary world, how much experience do you or I have in the eyes of those who judge?

These are the questions that I pose to you all within the Writing.com community:

1) When does the experience count?
2) When does it start to count for newbie writers?

If you are interested in posting your opinion or letting the rest of us take advantage of your expertise, please see my survey “What do you think?” located in my port.


 

I was speaking with a good friend of mine, who is also a writer, about the need for details in a fictional story. Personally, I tend to use many details to describe a setting, a woman’s clothing, the weather, or a situation. My friend told me that she is the opposite, she doesn’t use enough details. It just so happens that I know she uses her descriptive powers beautifully, but that was her own opinion of her writing.

Do we, as writers need to leave some room for the imagination of our reader? Do we forget that no matter how we describe a setting the reader won’t have the same picture in their mind as we do? The reader may come close to imagining what we are picturing if we do our job right, but it will not be exact.

I think there is a need to strike a fine balance. We need to describe a scene with detail but in the fewest words possible in order to avoid long run on sentences. This takes practice and remembering to be patient when scoping a scene. It helps to take a moment and imagine in detail what that mountain should look like. This may help us avoid describing every leaf on every tree that grows on that mountain. We should be able to describe the trees as a whole on that mountain. For instance – The trees grew green and lush across the mountainous terrain. Instead of – The trees were green, they grew close together, and there were many of them all over the mountain.

Well, I am sure that everyone has his or her own mechanics when it comes to using their descriptive powers. My own opinion is that readers can’t read minds only the words we write, make them count and make an impression.

 

Do writers feel more emotion than people who don’t write feel or do we just pay more attention to them? Are we like actors who have the ability to express every emotion there is? As writers, we learn to express many forms of emotion by means of the written word. Our goal is to make our readers feel how we want them to feel.

I can speak for myself when I say I feel whatever emotion I am writing in at that moment, there is a look upon my face to match the feeling I am writing in. If my character is pensive, then my brow begins to wrinkle. If my character is in distress, then even my typing shows it, I type faster. For a brief moment, I am living in my own character’s emotion. So, if we can step out of the present and into the emotion in which we are writing does this make us stronger writers?

Well at the very least writers care very much about being able to express an emotion. We go to great lengths to present a situation that a reader can step in to or relate. It is only when we mimic the expression on our faces or body language of our characters do we find that we are really getting into the story. We manipulate words so that the readers will really get into the story too.

How does this ability to communicate emotion affect our lives outside of the literary world? Do we love more, cry harder, or laugh longer than those that don’t write? Can our families and friends see in us that which we write?

 

The beginning of this year, I decided to take a course in copywriting. There are many institutions that offer such courses and in many different forms. After some careful research, I decided on The Learning Institute.

Over the last several months, I have received questions and comments regarding the value of a copywriting course. There seems to be many opinions. The most popular opinion I have found is that if you can write a letter, then you can write copy. That is to say, no one can teach you how to write, if you can write, you can write. In many ways, this opinion is true and I pondered this question before enrolling in the copywriting course I am now taking.

As with any form of art whether it be writing, culinary, interior design, or architecture, just to name a few, we naturally have to possess both the inclination and the eye for it. We have to have the ability first and then learn the technique. We take additional education to further our natural ability and love of that particular art.

It is the same with copywriting. Yes, if you can write, then you can write, but how do you know what to write and how to write it? How to do you know the form and function of the copy, copy that will sale. Well, we have to learn the details, the techniques of copywriting.

Copywriting is its own type of writing. The "rules" that novelists and other writers follow are not the same "rules" that a copywriter follows. In order to learn those “rules”, we must be taught by those in the know. We must learn from copywriters that have already made the mistakes we want to avoid and can tell us how. After all, copywriters write to sale and promote someone else’s product or company. A good copywriting course can only prove to strengthen the talents you already have.

As with anything in life the value of something is measured by the one measuring it, which means that our scales are one-sided. We may consider barrowing someone else’s scale until we have a clear understanding of all the facts before making that weighty decision.

 

We all have our own little habits when it comes to writing. Some get board and work on a different story or piece everyday instead of completing one and moving on to the next. Some will not start another piece until they have finished their current project. It all depends on our personal comfort zone.

I didn’t realize that I had any particular writing habits until this last week. As with most fantasy writers, I find that my dreams can be the most inspiring. I wrote an entire novel based on a dream that I had. Well, last week I had a dream that I absolutely had to get on paper or the computer screen as we now live in the modern time of computers and the pen just sits on the desk somewhere.

When I started the story, I couldn’t think of a title. Normally, I have no problem preparing the titles. However, this time I was stumped. I found that as I continued writing the story without the title I was distracted by the fact that I had no title. I finally had to stop and brain storm with a friend of mine to create a title for this story. Once I had the title, I proceeded to write the story without blockage or distraction.

Now I know that in order for me to give my all to the writing of a piece, I must have a title to set the stage. Requiring a title to write a story is my habit. What is yours?


 

Many think that the life of a writer is glamorous and provides a lot of wealth. Although there are some glamorous aspects in a writer's life, most are not glamorous. One can make a good living writing, but one must remain realistic in the beginning. Writers can be successful and not collect the income of a superstar.

The true glamour lies in the integrity of the writer and the hard work put into every word printed. A writing career requires much effort and persistence by the author. It is not as easy as some might think to come up with new ideas continuously and fine-tune the structure of ones writing. It is not easy to have the words you agonized over rejected or criticized. However, these are the main aspects of a writer's life. It is what we do with those aspects, which makes the life of a writer glamorous and fulfilling. If we are fortunate to have made lots of money with our writing abilities, then that is just a bonus.

Be true to the writing life. Believe that the words you write can be an art and not just a job. We must remind ourselves that we all have to start out somewhere.

 

As women, I think that it is in our nature to multi-task. We are mentally and physically capable of having a conversation and working on something unrelated to that conversation all at the same time. At work, we are speed demons on a mission. We can talk on the phone and prepare a letter on the computer that is in no way related to the phone conversation. We can even be on hold, type that letter, and listen to someone ask us a question. We can chase kids, prepare a full coarse meal, and get dressed by the time company arrives. If we are watching TV, we can discuss the program without missing a moment of it.

Why is this?

It is not because women are any better than men are. It is not because we have some special power that men don’t have.

As a whole, most men don’t have the ability or interest in having a conversation and watching TV at the same time. To their credit, they are able to silence the world around them and give one hundred percent of their attention to one thing or person.

There will never be clear answer to my question. It is just something else to add to the list of differences between men and women. I am sure there have been scientific studies done and there are many theories as to why women are so multi functional.

Here is my take on it. Women are marvelous creatures and strong in soul. We have a strong need to accomplish much. In order to keep up with the many interests and loves in our lives, we have to have the ability to pay attention to each one of them. Men are more simple and have more simple interests, as a whole. As long as they have something to eat, a game to watch on TV and the love of a beautiful woman, men are satisfied. Women, well, we want more and we don’t like to feel that we are missing out on anything. Therefore, we must be resourceful in our activities so that we don’t miss out on anything.

Here is to life ladies.

 

In today’s hectic society, sometimes we lose site of how important it is to say, "please", "thank you", or "you’re welcome". We were all raised to have good manners and to be respectful of one another. However, it is rare that we see those good manners and respect practiced when running relentlessly through our day.

We are all so busy going about our everyday business, which is normally going in one hundred different directions; we forget to say, "please", "thank you", and "you’re welcome". I don’t think that we even know we are neglecting our good manners.

Today as I was coming out of the ladies room in the building where I work, I held the restroom door open for a young lady entering. She walked right past me without saying, "Thank you". Maybe she figured that I had to open the door anyway to get out of the restroom, I wasn’t doing her any favors. It still would have been nice to hear those two little words though, after all, I waited to exit for her to enter. I know that it would have felt good to have my good deed, though small, acknowledged.

So maybe it would be a good idea to keep in mind that even though it may seem to be a small thing, it might make someone’s day if we acknowledge their kindness and show kindness in return. If it is a small thing, then it shouldn’t be difficult for us to practice.