Hi all,
The search button here on my browser doesn't work too well for this forum, so I apologize if somebody has already done this...
My name is Robert Marks, and I've been a professional writer since 1998. My first book sale was the e-book that launched the entire Blizzard fiction line for Pocket Books, I was the author of one of the first online computer games issues columns in the English language (Garwulf's Corner on Diabloii.net between 2000-2002), I've sold three stories to the Escapist so far (the third is going to be in the Sex issue, unless something dramatic happens), and I've got somewhere around 300 paid publication credits and rising. And, since there are probably a lot of people who would like to write for the Escapist, or in general, I figured I'd pass on some writing tips (and hopefully other writers will join me in this thread with their own tips).
1. Write about the important stuff. I can't stress this enough - as far as I'm concerned, this is rule number one. What this basically means is that once the reader has finished your article, they should never be left wondering "So what?"
(And, on a side note, a good article will tend to assume that the reader has at some point asked the "So what?" question, and provide an answer. This isn't hard when it comes to video games - it's a relatively new medium that is just adjusting to being big business, and there is a lot going on that has an impact.)
2. Write with skill, not art. One thing a lot of editors hate is university writing classes, because they end up getting material from a bunch of students who have been taught that they should let their artistic feelings come to the surface, without having been taught any actual skill - and the results are just unpublishable. Spelling, grammar, and punctuation are all very important - making certain that your prose flows smoothly from paragraph to paragraph is too.
(And, when you write with enough skill, the art will creep into your work on its own.)
3. Use plain language. There are some people who think that you have to use very convoluted wording in order to sound smarter - this is false. If I write that I am "efficiently exchanging oxygen with carbon dioxide in my internal organs," instead of "breathing," the people who don't have a big enough vocabulary will be lost, and the people who do understand what I just wrote will think that I'm a pretentious twit who's trying to sound smarter than I am. Your goal as a writer is to express an intelligent point, and while this sometimes requires specialized language, the more you can use plain wording, the better.
4. Vary the length of your paragraphs. This is important for readability. Think of an article as a delicious steak for a moment. If you eat the steak in huge bites, you'll choke. If you eat it in little tiny bites, you'll be left unsatisfied. If you use a variety, you'll get the best possible experience. Single sentence paragraphs are also a very powerful tool, and should not be used lightly. So, if we take the following example:
"John stared down the barrel of Jim's gun. A bead of sweat rolled down his forehead. He swallowed, wondering if he'd ever see his wife again.
"Jim pulled the trigger."
The first paragraph here is very powerful, but the second, which has only a single sentence, hits like a hammer blow. Sprinkled lightly throughout the article, single sentence paragraphs can make important points stand out with tremendous impact. Used too often, and they lose their power.
5. The adverb is not your friend. Any time you put in an adverb, it weakens the sentence. The more adverbs, the weaker the sentence is. Compare:
"Jim pulled the trigger" - nice, simple and strong.
"Jim quickly pulled the trigger" - not quite as strong.
"Jim quickly and steadily pulled the trigger" - very little power now.
6. Be careful of where you put quotes. If you've interviewed somebody, you want their words to make a difference. If you put those words at the beginning of a paragraph, or the end, or make them a paragraph of their own, they stand out. If you plant them in the middle of a paragraph, they end up marginalized.
7. Read your article out loud at least once when you edit. It is amazing how much the human ear can catch that the eye cannot. When you read your work aloud, you'll catch word echoes, places the article doesn't flow, and you'll catch errors in your argument.
8. Don't fall in love with your words. I've been writing professionally for ten years now, and my first drafts still have plenty of problems. Editing is a very important step, and should never be skipped. I try to give every article I send in at least three editing passes before I pass it on to an editor. And, in editing, your article should, in general, get shorter rather than longer.
I'll use one of my own articles as an example, The Anatomy of Violence. The first draft was around 2,500-2,800 words. The draft that I sent in to the Escapist editor was around 2,000 words, and much tighter. The editor at the Escapist cut out another 500 words - the final published draft was very lean, mean, and got its point across with great force (the only serious problem that arose with it was something that was my own fault for not catching in the process, and sometimes these things happen).
(Another important point here is that writers do not tend to be the best judges of their own work - they're just too close to it. That's why you want to show your piece to somebody else who will be honest with you about the problems in it.)
So, those are the tips that come immediately to mind - do any other Escapist writers have some they'd like to add?
Best to all,
Robert Marks
The search button here on my browser doesn't work too well for this forum, so I apologize if somebody has already done this...
My name is Robert Marks, and I've been a professional writer since 1998. My first book sale was the e-book that launched the entire Blizzard fiction line for Pocket Books, I was the author of one of the first online computer games issues columns in the English language (Garwulf's Corner on Diabloii.net between 2000-2002), I've sold three stories to the Escapist so far (the third is going to be in the Sex issue, unless something dramatic happens), and I've got somewhere around 300 paid publication credits and rising. And, since there are probably a lot of people who would like to write for the Escapist, or in general, I figured I'd pass on some writing tips (and hopefully other writers will join me in this thread with their own tips).
1. Write about the important stuff. I can't stress this enough - as far as I'm concerned, this is rule number one. What this basically means is that once the reader has finished your article, they should never be left wondering "So what?"
(And, on a side note, a good article will tend to assume that the reader has at some point asked the "So what?" question, and provide an answer. This isn't hard when it comes to video games - it's a relatively new medium that is just adjusting to being big business, and there is a lot going on that has an impact.)
2. Write with skill, not art. One thing a lot of editors hate is university writing classes, because they end up getting material from a bunch of students who have been taught that they should let their artistic feelings come to the surface, without having been taught any actual skill - and the results are just unpublishable. Spelling, grammar, and punctuation are all very important - making certain that your prose flows smoothly from paragraph to paragraph is too.
(And, when you write with enough skill, the art will creep into your work on its own.)
3. Use plain language. There are some people who think that you have to use very convoluted wording in order to sound smarter - this is false. If I write that I am "efficiently exchanging oxygen with carbon dioxide in my internal organs," instead of "breathing," the people who don't have a big enough vocabulary will be lost, and the people who do understand what I just wrote will think that I'm a pretentious twit who's trying to sound smarter than I am. Your goal as a writer is to express an intelligent point, and while this sometimes requires specialized language, the more you can use plain wording, the better.
4. Vary the length of your paragraphs. This is important for readability. Think of an article as a delicious steak for a moment. If you eat the steak in huge bites, you'll choke. If you eat it in little tiny bites, you'll be left unsatisfied. If you use a variety, you'll get the best possible experience. Single sentence paragraphs are also a very powerful tool, and should not be used lightly. So, if we take the following example:
"John stared down the barrel of Jim's gun. A bead of sweat rolled down his forehead. He swallowed, wondering if he'd ever see his wife again.
"Jim pulled the trigger."
The first paragraph here is very powerful, but the second, which has only a single sentence, hits like a hammer blow. Sprinkled lightly throughout the article, single sentence paragraphs can make important points stand out with tremendous impact. Used too often, and they lose their power.
5. The adverb is not your friend. Any time you put in an adverb, it weakens the sentence. The more adverbs, the weaker the sentence is. Compare:
"Jim pulled the trigger" - nice, simple and strong.
"Jim quickly pulled the trigger" - not quite as strong.
"Jim quickly and steadily pulled the trigger" - very little power now.
6. Be careful of where you put quotes. If you've interviewed somebody, you want their words to make a difference. If you put those words at the beginning of a paragraph, or the end, or make them a paragraph of their own, they stand out. If you plant them in the middle of a paragraph, they end up marginalized.
7. Read your article out loud at least once when you edit. It is amazing how much the human ear can catch that the eye cannot. When you read your work aloud, you'll catch word echoes, places the article doesn't flow, and you'll catch errors in your argument.
8. Don't fall in love with your words. I've been writing professionally for ten years now, and my first drafts still have plenty of problems. Editing is a very important step, and should never be skipped. I try to give every article I send in at least three editing passes before I pass it on to an editor. And, in editing, your article should, in general, get shorter rather than longer.
I'll use one of my own articles as an example, The Anatomy of Violence. The first draft was around 2,500-2,800 words. The draft that I sent in to the Escapist editor was around 2,000 words, and much tighter. The editor at the Escapist cut out another 500 words - the final published draft was very lean, mean, and got its point across with great force (the only serious problem that arose with it was something that was my own fault for not catching in the process, and sometimes these things happen).
(Another important point here is that writers do not tend to be the best judges of their own work - they're just too close to it. That's why you want to show your piece to somebody else who will be honest with you about the problems in it.)
So, those are the tips that come immediately to mind - do any other Escapist writers have some they'd like to add?
Best to all,
Robert Marks
