Speakers from left to right: Jane Byers Goodwin, K.T. Bradford, Polly Pagenhart
Talk about fantastic! My first of two BlogHer sessions here today was one of the most interesting classes I’ve taken in a while. I love it when the instructors actually sound like people you’d like to get to know in real life. I actually laughed out loud a couple times!
As you can probably tell by the title of this post, the first session I attended here today was about writing and editing, two very important aspects of not just blogging, but also day-to-day life.
Most of us probably have the need to convey something clearly in print, and so I hope that even if you aren’t a blogger, you’re still able to take something useful away from this.
The speakers…
Jane Byers Goodwin
@mamacita
Social Media Specialist, Writer, Speaker, Internet Watchdog, Absentminded Professor, Education Advocate/Critic, Mommy
janegoodwin.netK.T. Bradford
@ktbradford
TechGeek, ChicGeek, Just Plain Geek — Writer at Notebooks.com and Android Central
ktbradford.comPolly Pagenhart
@lesbiandad
Utterly unable to contain myself to 140 chars. But will try valiantly. Wish me lu-
lesbiandad.net
Here are some tidbits I grasped and managed to jot down. These shouldn’t be taken as direct quotes, as I was repeatedly distracted by all of the stylish looking girls in the room. 🙂
K.T.: The biggest thing I’ve learned is that writing is rewriting. My biggest message today would have to be that the first draft you put out there might be pretty good, but you shouldn’t be afraid to rewrite.
K.T.: Most of us have learned these skills [about grammar] at one point, but they get pushed aside because we’re busy, etc. The purpose of this session is to help you tighten up your prose so that it makes the fullest impact.
JANE: Often the first draft is the one that comes out that’s closest to our hearts, but people will notice your grammar and your spelling before they notice your message. Often if your spelling and grammar aren’t good, your message will be lost. With my students, I call this the trust factor.
K.T.: What underpins good writing? Voice does have quite a bit to do with it, but having an authentic voice isn’t necessarily about writing the way that you talk. It’s more about making sure that the things you’re passionate about are being delivered clearly. Try not to let grammar rules trip you up too much.
K.T.: Bird by Bird, by Anne Lamott, is really an excellent book. In it she has a chapter called Writing the Sh*tty First Draft. You should never be afraid to write a sh*tty first draft. Don’t be afraid to let that first draft come out in your natural voice. The first draft is where you want to let your authentic voice shine through without it being blocked by editing. The best way to preserve your voice is to just let it out.
JANE: Spell check is not your friend. Spell check hates you. Spell check is your enemy. Use it for a once through, but it doesn’t know the difference between affect and effect.
JANE: Serious pieces require serious checking. Little folksy pieces, not so much. Never use a four-syllable word when a two-syllable word will do. It makes us sound pretentious, and none of us need to do that unless we’re writing about fine wine.
Spell check was here…
K.T.: Every time you change the subject you need a new paragraph.
K.T.: When you write, pick a tense and stick with it. Don’t go back and forth between past and present tense.
POLLY: Knowing your audience and knowing your purpose helps a lot. Knowing your audience helps your voice. And also, eliminate redundancy. When you edit, try to go through and look for repeated words you can change. A thesaurus can help, especially if you make an effort to learn the sometimes subtle differences in meaning between synonyms.
JANE: Words are a lot like people, and some of our histories are a little more colorful and interesting than others. Every word has a history. Some of their histories are boring, and some are quite interesting. Testimony and testament, for example. In the olden days, people would grab their testicles when taking an oath. Today, when people talk about testifying, testimony or testament, they’re really talking about their nuts. Knowing the history behind words can really make using them a lot more fun.
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Harshleen says
Thanks for sharing your notes Karen……enjoyed reading the post 🙂
Karen says
You’re welcome, Harshleen! Glad you enjoyed this post. 🙂
Got any exciting plans for the weekend?
Jessi says
Yay! It sounds like you’re having a good time. When i was little I wanted to be a writer. I would write “books” all the time and even a a little “About the Author” page I wrote at the very end. But then I realized that I hate proof-reading and rewriting and probably wouldn’t get very far without those skills.
Karen says
Hi Jessi,
That’s adorable. I hope you saved some of those books. 🙂
Got any plans for the weekend? Sleeping in better be on your agenda, LOL!
Jessi says
You better believe it lady! I so excited to go to bed tonight and not have to worry about an annoying alarm in the morning! It’s the little things isn’t it?!
Oh, and I think My mom still has the books I wrote. One was about a princess who got mad at her family and shot them to the moon with a cannon, but then she felt bad about it and let them come back.
Anna says
Talk about six degrees of separation! I was at Clarion West with Tempest. If she’s still around, go and tell her that Anna the Other English Girl told you how funny and brilliant she is,even when she wants bonking over the head with a frying pan!
Karen says
How random! It really is a small world!
Jenn says
So jealous that you’re there. Thanks for posting this. 🙂
Anna says
KT = Tempest
Erica says
I teach, so this passage is really useful. Thanks Karen!
Nina says
what an awesome read — thank you for sharing, Karen!
Nina says
this is weird. i just replied to thank you for sharing an awesome read and it disappeared again. :-/
Nina says
last try. thanks for sharing, karen.
dani@callitbeauty says
“people will notice your grammar and your spelling before they notice your message. Often if your spelling and grammar aren’t good, your message will be lost.”
THIS.
i’ve had to stop reading blogs because of bad grammar and spelling >.<
dani@callitbeauty says
and yet, ironically, i prefer writing my comments in lowercase… o.O
Makeup Morsels says
Super helpful post, thanks for taking down all those notes to share with us 🙂 And interesting tidbit about testimony. You learn something new every day!
Fee says
Hi Karen, first time on your blog today and I can’t tell you how much it pleases me to see this post as well as your emphasis on grammar/spelling accuracy in the ‘guest post’ guidelines. I’m like Dani above – there is one pretty well-known UK fashion blog that I read regularly but in nearly every post I have to get past the grammar/spelling errors and typos; it’s infuriating. Whether you’re writing about philosophy or fashion, macro-economics or make-up – it’s still writing!! I’m glad I’m not the only pernickety one 🙂
Jane says
Thank you so very, very much for those kind words. It was genuinely. . . wait for it. . . awesome. . . to have you in our session.
Your post made my day.
lee says
Interesting read. Thanks for sharing this as I have learned something from it. 🙂
No Drama Momma says
Thanks for sharing! This is really helpful advice. Wish I could have been there myself!