Excellent Advice

10 Steps to Becoming a Better Writer

Zombies & Passive Voice

Hmmm…

Her hair was styled by zombies.
His food was cooked by zombies.
The baby was eaten by zombies.

All passive voice!

Zombies styled her hair.
Zombies cooked his food.
Zombies ate the baby.

All active voice!

Brilliant!

Indeed

Grammar & A Little Sick Humor

Yes, this is sick, but it’s definitely funny! I admit, though, that I do have a warped sense of humor. That’s what keeps me going, after all!

But more importantly, this comic strip does explain the difference between “your” and “you’re” rather memorably!

Ah, Commas!

Score One for Honesty in Description…I Think?

So I was taking my midnight walk with Himself, my husband, and we came across this nifty sign. I was delighted with the stark honesty in the description, but, I must admit, the sign didn’t make me want to go buy their stuff. I just wanted to see it to judge its crappiness or awesomeness for myself.

In any case, when you write, be aware of the effects you leave with your readers simply based on the words you choose–especially if you want your readers to do something about whatever it is you’re writing. While I applaud this seller’s honesty, I’m not so sure about the quality of his/her stuff. And I’m definitely not going to plunk down some hard-earned money for his/her crap. No matter how awesome it may be.

More on Conversing with Books

From the man who brought the “I think, therefore I am” earth-shaking insight, comes this pithy quote about reading good books:

On Writing and Music

I need to write to music. In fact, depending on what I’m writing, I create soundtracks. I’m no musician–just ask my poor family when I try to sing along to any song–but I love music.

If I’m just writing to generate ideas, that is, get stuff that’s roiling around in my brain down on paper or in my computer, then music with singing works. A funky-paced song like “Fresh Blood” by The Eels gets my fingers tapping to the beat, helping me to crank out words without needing their definitions and connotations to be precise. But if I need to think more about my words and ideas, then I need to listen to either classical music with no singing, like Bizzarrie Armonichie or Mozart, or to jazz, especially Miles Davis.

But if I’m feeling especially daring, I’ll listen to music with singing in languages I’m not fluent in. I can’t listen to music sung in either Spanish or French when I need to concentrate on my words because since I’ve studied those languages, my mind starts focusing on the lyrics in order to translate them instead of on what I’m writing. So I’ll listen to Natacha Atlas, one of my favorite singers, to help me get in a mellow groove when I’m writing.

Or, when I’m searching for that pulsing energy, I listen to Rammstein. In fact, as I type this blog post I’m listening to one of my favorite Rammstein songs, “Sonne.” (Caution: some people may find the song’s official video disturbing. I find it hilarious.)

I don’t speak Arabic, so Natacha Atlas’s crooning lets me enjoy her voice while not getting distracted by what she’s saying. I don’t speak German so Till Lindemann can sing to me (Seriously. He can. Anytime he wants.) and, because I don’t understand German, I don’t get sidetracked.

The beat of the music helps me set my tone for whatever writing project I’m working on. If I need lots of energy and my coffee I.V. just isn’t cutting it, that’s when I crank out Rammstein. But if I’m feeling kind of low-key yet amazingly productive, I’ll listen to string tributes, like the String Quartet Tribute to Led Zeppelin or to ACDC.

Writing isn’t a solitary or quiet act. It can be, of course, but it doesn’t have to be. In the classroom when my students are writing or researching, I like to plug the classroom’s speakers to my iPhone and play some music for them. I’ll play Miles Davis or Mozart or Bizzarrie Armoniche. But I’d really like to play some Queens of the Stone Age or Rammstein or Bombasta or Dropkick Murphys. I figure, though, that they’re new in their writing journey and, so, might easily be distracted by pulsing rock. Heck, I can get easily sidetracked by such rockin’ music!

Write with whatever music works for you. Or write in silence. Just find what works and don’t expect it to stay the same every time you write. Writer, know thyself. Know when you need silence to write or when you need music. And learn what type of music is best for whatever mood you’re in as you write.

I’ll leave you with the cumbia-infused sounds of Bombasta’s “De La Calle”–excellent music to get your body rockin’ and your fingers flying on the keyboard. You’ll also see my hometown and where I used to hang out. Enjoy!