The white pastel can draw white on top of the charcoal, so now I can make white marks, which can also be smudged and mixed. It's giving me a range of values I couldn't get before. Throwing white highlights onto a dark drawing is a way of directing attention and makes it more interesting. Black and white, on a drawing, are the extreme values. If I try to apply this idea to writing, it should also be a juxtaposition of opposite extremes. A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift Prompted Morning Pages Journals Transcript

I’m reading a book by Stanley Fish called How to Write a Sentence. I found this book by Googling that exact question because I wanted to find anything that might be a fit for what I'm podcasting about this season. How to Write a Sentence by Stanley Fish The Tools and Materials of Writing Write While True Episode 28: Complex Sentences Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll Sponsor: Prompted Morning Page Journals Transcript

Today I want to talk about one of the rules that's in Strunk and White. It's actually in almost every book about writing, which is to use the active voice and to prefer it over the passive voice. Larry McEnerney analyzes the Gettysburg Address [YouTube] The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln The Sense of Style by Steven Pinker The Elements of Style by Strunk and White Politics and the English Language by George Orwell Transcript

The advice applies to any kind of writing. It resonated with me because I feel like I might be having that problem in my written work. That sometimes my writing feels like a stack of paragraphs. I am feeling the lack of propulsion that John and Aline described. Scriptnotes Episode 60 (transcript only) Scriptnotes Episode 61 (transcript only) Write While True Episode 1: Training to Unblock Yourself Write While True Episode 19: Prompt Your Morning Pages Write While True Journals Transcript

I recently came across the phrase zombie nouns, which was coined by Helen Sword. She's an author and currently runs a private consultancy to help writers. Back in 2012, she was teaching at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, and she wrote an article for the New York Times called Zombie Nouns. Write While True Episode 30: Finding Nouns and Verbs Zombie Nouns by Helen Sword in the New York Times Writers Diet tool for finding zombie nouns Transcript

What we're trying to do is we're trying to learn how to recall fit words when we need them in our writing. To get better at that, we need to be exposed to more interesting words and to practice using them. Imagine situations where they would be perfect. Making it memorable and ridiculous might help you remember the word when you need it. Write While True Episode 1: Training to Unblock Yourself Write While True Episode 19: Prompt Your Morning Pages The Sense of Style by Steven Pinker Transcript

The idea of collecting quotes is not something new. I think that's the way most people think of note taking in general. There's even a style of journal some people keep called a Commonplace book, which builds on this idea. In a Commonplace book, you are mostly collecting the thoughts of others. You might also put in your own reaction to those—your thoughts on those thoughts—but the focus is on the collecting. I want to recommend a spin on this idea. How to Take Smart Notes by Sönke Ahrens Transcript

I think one sentence from David Lambuth really sums up what I want to say about paragraphs. Here it is. There is no absolute rule for paragraphing. Your own feeling must be your guide. The Golden Book on Writing by David Lambuth The Elements of Style by Strunk & White Transcript

I’m going to use these three books again for today’s topic, which is the order of words in a sentence. I love that these books tackle mundane topics, things that seem innate, but aren’t. I mean, we can order words into something grammatical without much thought. Even though a ten-sentence word has ten factorial possible orderings, we can easily find the handful that are legal English. The Golden Book on Writing by David Lambuth The Elements of Style by Strunk & White Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg Transcript

Every book on writing tells you to avoid adverbs (and even adjectives). I find that hard to do in first drafts, but I do try to remove them in edits. You can tell that I haven't done enough editing if you see that I "really like" something or that a new programming language is "pretty good". Season 3 Write While True Episode 28: Complex Sentences Write While True Episode 29: Loose Sentences Books The Golden Book on Writing by David Lambuth The Elements of Style by Strunk & White Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg Sweep Editing Write While True Episode 6: Editing First Drafts Write While True Episode 7: Find Your Voice Edit in Sweeps Transcript