Love the writing tips from Cory Doctorow (who blogs at Boing Boing). I once started a novel, but never got around to completing it. It would have been interesting, because it involved many of the themes of today’s conflicts — the Arab world, high technology and rapid communications, biotech, etc. I look back and realize it was all a bit prescient. But, I made the mistake of asking what a major writer thought of it, and he discouraged me. Lesson learned. To ask permission is to seek denial, and one should simply do what is in one’s heart.
Anyway, this tip was one I hadn’t seen before, and really liked.
Researching isn’t writing and vice-versa. When you come to a factual matter that you could google in a matter of seconds don t. Don t give in and look up the length of the Brooklyn Bridge the population of Rhode Island or the distance to the Sun. That way lies distraction — an endless click-trance that will turn your 20 minutes of composing into a half-day s idyll through the web. Instead do what journalists do type “TK” where your fact should go as in “The Brooklyn bridge all TK feet of it sailed into the air like a kite.” “TK” appears in very few English words the one I get tripped up on is “Atkins” so a quick search through your document for “TK” will tell you whether you have any fact-checking to do afterwards. And your editor and copyeditor will recognize it if you miss it and bring it to your attention.
via Locus Online Features: Cory Doctorow: Writing in the Age of Distraction.
One Response
I use four large Xs, as in “XXXX.” Easy to do a global search for those.
I also think it is easy to get bogged down in minutiae.