Deby Adair's Blog - Posts Tagged "writing-courses"
The validity of appraisals, writing courses and good editing.
Hello everyone,
I was recently approached by a writer who took advantage of my current fee-free offer for manuscript appraisals.
Her story was excellent. But there was a lot of work to do. She felt that she had given me a final product but I felt as if I were reading a synopsis.
She was a gracious and willing listener and avidly soaked up the tips and ideas that I gave her.
When it was her turn to ask questions she hit the nail right on the head. ‘Should writers do a course to improve their skills or is talent enough?’
Good question! And my reply is always the same.
‘Yes! Take advantage of a good writing course.’
A writer is fraught with small pitfalls in their style, no matter how talented. This is where good editors, and I mean good ones, (not your friend who’s known you all your life and has a bias toward your brilliance,) are vital before we proffer our final products to the world.
Independent manuscript appraisals are also very important. For a realistic assessment of your work it should come from someone who doesn’t know you. This is especially important for the self-published writer!
Not everyone is born with a perfect gift… even the very talented, whether it is in music, art, drama, dance or any creative skill or other interest can only benefit from some guidance and training.
As writers, we fall into small comfort zones with our writing… unconscious glitches where we either favour a particular word, repeat ourselves, become trapped by the over use of description and sometimes writing ‘in our heads’ and excluding the reader….
There are dozens of ways that we can all benefit from more knowledge and a sharp eye telling us what works and what might not.
Maintaining a healthy attitude and a willingness to change is important if we’re to become the writers we aspire to be. Writers can only benefit from pointers given by those who understand how things such as sentence structure, word use and other writing skills will benefit us and keep readers captivated.
Also important are such things as layout which can show whether you verge on amateur or professional. We all want to be professional so if you’re winging it, find a course… it doesn’t have to be a university degree or even a long and expensive course... it can be something that the local book club is running or a recommended inexpensive online course.
In a nutshell, no matter how talented, like anything worth doing it involves a lot of work, and that’s how it should be. Otherwise anyone could write a story.
Best wishes,
Deby
I was recently approached by a writer who took advantage of my current fee-free offer for manuscript appraisals.
Her story was excellent. But there was a lot of work to do. She felt that she had given me a final product but I felt as if I were reading a synopsis.
She was a gracious and willing listener and avidly soaked up the tips and ideas that I gave her.
When it was her turn to ask questions she hit the nail right on the head. ‘Should writers do a course to improve their skills or is talent enough?’
Good question! And my reply is always the same.
‘Yes! Take advantage of a good writing course.’
A writer is fraught with small pitfalls in their style, no matter how talented. This is where good editors, and I mean good ones, (not your friend who’s known you all your life and has a bias toward your brilliance,) are vital before we proffer our final products to the world.
Independent manuscript appraisals are also very important. For a realistic assessment of your work it should come from someone who doesn’t know you. This is especially important for the self-published writer!
Not everyone is born with a perfect gift… even the very talented, whether it is in music, art, drama, dance or any creative skill or other interest can only benefit from some guidance and training.
As writers, we fall into small comfort zones with our writing… unconscious glitches where we either favour a particular word, repeat ourselves, become trapped by the over use of description and sometimes writing ‘in our heads’ and excluding the reader….
There are dozens of ways that we can all benefit from more knowledge and a sharp eye telling us what works and what might not.
Maintaining a healthy attitude and a willingness to change is important if we’re to become the writers we aspire to be. Writers can only benefit from pointers given by those who understand how things such as sentence structure, word use and other writing skills will benefit us and keep readers captivated.
Also important are such things as layout which can show whether you verge on amateur or professional. We all want to be professional so if you’re winging it, find a course… it doesn’t have to be a university degree or even a long and expensive course... it can be something that the local book club is running or a recommended inexpensive online course.
In a nutshell, no matter how talented, like anything worth doing it involves a lot of work, and that’s how it should be. Otherwise anyone could write a story.
Best wishes,
Deby
