There are a lot of factors to writing a hit song. First, you should focus on writing a good song. Once you’ve done that, you are not far away from writing a hit.

Like most other things in life, it takes persistence, patience, drive, knowledge, belief and maybe some luck.

Stop and think about your favorite songs. Really analyze them and figure out what it is that you like about those songs.

Different factors may come to play here. Maybe it is the good beat, lyrics that hit home, a beautiful melody, something spiritual or patriotic, or maybe even that it is humorous.

If you include one of these elements in your songwriting you are well on your way. If you combine two or more of these elements, you may have yourself a hit.

A Good Beat

Rhythm is important in music. I have to laugh and think of Jerry Van Dyke on “The Dick Van Dyke Show” years ago trying to play the banjo and sing, “I’ve got rhy-rhy-thm, I’ve got mah-mah-music…”

But, unless you are very funny like Jerry Van Dyke, your audience is not very likely to stay with you.

Your music not only needs to have a good beat, but must fit the genre of music you are trying to write. A Metallica beat in a George Strait type song may not get you very far. A song with a good enough beat might be a hit even with no melody and no lyrics. Remember “Green Onions?”

Along with the beat is the tempo. Country music is easy to write (I did not say it is easy to write well) because it is about people’s lives and everyday experiences. However, too often people write slow songs for country music, when in fact the industry is starving for upbeat country material like “Country Roads” and “Rocky Top.” It is much harder to write a good up-tempo country song than it is a tear jerker.

Lyrics in popular music can range from broken relationships to political issues, and just about any point in between. Those that tend to be the most popular are about situations you and I may encounter in our everyday lives; “Workin’ 9 To 5,” “I Just Called To Say I Love You,” “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” “God Bless The USA” (which ingeniously incorporates spiritual, political and patriotic views).

A beautiful or interesting melody can get you into the ranks of hit songwriter with no lyrics required. Going back in time to prove a point about beautiful melodies, you might consider songs like “Last Date” and “Sleepwalk.”

Songs with great melody lines are very easy to be found in many hit TV show themes like “Peter Gunn,” “Hawaii 5-0,” along with many of the 60’s surfer songs like “Wipe Out.”

Well done humorous songs usually find an audience, such as Ray Stevens “The Streak,” and Jerry Reeds “She Got The Goldmine, I Got The Shaft.” If you have a knack for both humor and music, you might make a fortune.

Spiritual and patriotic songs, if they are well done and come out at the right time, are easy hits. Every time the U.S. gets involved in any type of world conflict, the songwriters get their pens out.

Keep your ears and eyes open, and keep a shoe box to put your ideas for songs in. Every time you think of an idea for a song or a song title, write it down and drop it in the box. It could be your first, or your next, big hit.

Writing style comprises four characteristics:

1. Formality
2. Language complexity
3. Objectivity, and
4. Information depth.

The purpose you are trying to accomplish, the readers’ needs, your relationship with the reader, and the type of document affect the style in which you write. Style is a strategy for effective writing, not a goal.

In this article, we will address Formality.

Formality means (1) the degree to which you attend to standard English conventions, real and assumed, (2) the degree to which you use common words as opposed to colloquial, idiomatic words, (3) the level of objectivity, and (4) the level of intimacy you assume with the reader. Writing in a formal manner does not mean using “fancy” language and big words.

Levels of formality, sometimes called language registers, can be construed as follows.

Intimate (least formal): This is how you speak with or write to your best friends or significant other. Intimate language is highly dependent on shared experiences, assumes understanding of common topics, and does not reflect standard English conventions of grammar or sentence structure. It also relies on shared definitions of what words and expressions mean, and those meanings may be different or more specific meanings used by the general public. Because intimate language is so dependent on the relationship with the other person, and because intimate language implies social and emotional closeness, avoid intimate language except when speaking or writing to people in your closest relationships.

Casual: This is how you speak or write to people with whom you associate casually. Friends and family members may fall in this category, as do many acquaintances. Although this language register has been described as “friendly” language, we may also use casual language in unfriendly circumstances. Casual language depends somewhat on shared experiences, common interests, and similar personalities with the other person. Word use is often idiosyncratic (i.e., slang) and dependent on shared experiences.

Social: This is how you speak or write to people you meet in social situations, such as when speaking to a shop clerk or when introduced to a friend of a friend. It relies on broadly accepted word definitions, common yet respectful ways of addressing the other person, and standard English conventions, though not as rigorously as more formal registers. It does not depend on shared experiences but may employ idioms common to a particular community or culture. Social language is appropriate for most social encounters. Indeed, social language implies membership within a particular community or general culture and is appropriate if you are trying to establish yourself as a member of a particular social community.

Formal: Formal language rigorously follows standard English conventions and relies on broadly accepted word definitions. It tends to avoid personal opinions, feelings, and experiences from private life. It also avoids idiomatic language. Unlike less formal language styles, formal language doesn’t assume the reader has shared experiences, understands the topics and issues, or has any social connection to the writer or speaker. Generally, this is the level of formality for public, published writing or writing to people with whom you don’t have any social relationship. This is the most acceptable level for most published or broadly disseminated documents, business documents, and academic documents.

Professional: Here, the word professional does not mean formal and business-like. It means writing specific to a particular profession. Professional documents are, for all practical purposes, social documents. However, the social group is a specific, targeted group of readers in a professional field. The members of this group share a common professional language with specific words and expressions, often referred to as jargon, and specific expertise in a field of study. Unlike social language, understanding is not dependent upon shared experiences in a community or social group. Rather, understanding is dependent of shared expertise and experience within a particular professional field. Like formal language, professional language pays rigorous attention to language conventions.

This examination of formality levels is useful for two reasons. (1) It may help you select and use the appropriate level. Using the wrong level will create conflict with your reader. If you use a level that is too intimate, you presume a level of intimacy that the reader does not share. If you use a level that is too formal, you may be perceived as an arrogant, condescending outsider. In either case, you damage the relationship with the reader that you need to accomplish your purposes. (2) Understanding various levels of formality will help you gauge the effectiveness of your communications, make adjustments, and become flexible in your communication style.

Although the formality levels address word usage, nothing about the formal or professional writing indicates that using longer, more esoteric words is better. In fact, if certain words are not common to the audience you are addressing, or if you are unsure about how they are used, you risk damaging your communication and credibility.

In business, school, and most professional environments, effective writing stays firmly within the formal level unless you have a very specific, considered reason to use a different level.

The most obvious advantage of the collaborative writing process is summed up well in the old saying, “two heads are better than one.” Having more than one person working on a writing project increases the amount of combined knowledge of the authors. In areas of intelligence where one person is weak, others may be strong, and vice versa. If utilized properly, the collective intelligence of a group of writers can be a powerful resource.

Another advantage of the collaborative process is having multiple pairs of eyes to proofread the writing. Having a fresh perspective is vital when proofreading, so the more people looking at the writing, the higher the likelihood that mistakes will be identified and improvements will be made.

Creativity can be fueled when multiple writers brainstorm with each other. That is another great advantage to the collaborative writing process. One writer can propose an idea, and another can expand on it and complement it.

A disadvantage of this process is the possibility of opposing opinions on how best to represent the given information. If some members of the collaborative process are unwilling to compromise, this can be a serious obstacle. Additionally, conflicting schedules of a writing team can make it hard for a project to be completed.

In a collaborative process, if certain tasks are assigned to members of the group, the writing will only be as good as the weakest portion of the project. If not all members of the group are professional and serious-minded, the work will suffer.

Individual processes might be preferable when writing about personal experiences, or when the subject matter is very narrow and the deadline is tight.

Writing a technical report is often a real challenge for many technical professionals. The research, investigation or design are why you’re doing what you love to do… but then you have to write a report. And that has the potential to be the weak link. But there are some features of technical writing that are essential, whatever your field or organisation. I like to remember them as the ABCS of Technical Writing: accuracy, brevity, clarity, and simplicity.

1. Accuracy: accurate reporting of your findings; accurate presentation of the facts; accurate representation of your findings, in accordance with the methods you’ve used. Make sure you clearly indicate where you’ve expressed an opinion, rather than a certain outcome of your investigation. As far as possible, give specific information rather than generalisations.
2. Brevity: Try to keep the document as short as possible – time-poor readers will appreciate that. Consider placing background and supporting information into an appendix, footnote or endnote reference. As much as possible, keep sentences short (15 to 20 words works well for most readers), with only one idea expressed in each sentence.
3. Clarity: Use familiar vocabulary and constructions (make sure you’ve thought about who will read your report and be prepared to explain potentially unfamiliar words, perhaps as a glossary, footnote or endnote). Be consistent with your terminology, abbreviations and presentation of figures, tables, illustrations, etc. Consider using tables, figures, graphs, illustrations to demonstrate your point… as ‘they’ say, a picture saves a thousand words. Remember that jargon (specialised terms used in your field) excludes those who are unfamiliar with those words. Use precise words: your readers don’t appreciate having to decide if a word has a slightly different meaning in different contexts. A useful technique is to use bullet or numbered points to express complex ideas (if your discipline or organisation allows).
4. Simplicity: This is about expressing your thoughts with simplicity, not simplifying your work. Remember your readers: you want to show them the value of your work, not what a good writer you are. The content is more important than extravagant writing. Verbosity hinders your readers’ understanding. Make sure you’ve thought about the logical progression of your report. Plan the structure of your document so that you lead your readers to the conclusion you’ve reached. The simplicity inherent in the use of plain English (active voice, reasonable sentence length, wise use of specialised terms, no verbosity) will serve you well.

Become familiar with the ABCS of Technical Writing. Remember that you are writing so that your readers will say, ‘That’s excellent work’ not ‘That’s good writing, but I really am not sure what it was all about.’

In China, in parks, mountains and villages, you can find Chinese characters or other symbols carved on living bamboos. People just act naturally, on the smooth surface, picking up a stone with sharp tips. This simple, natural way of writing could have been practiced thousands of years ago and have to do with the origin of Chinese writing.

Vertical carvings on living bamboos predated bamboo slips

Writing horizontally is natural for eyes to read. Although not with a natural direction, Chinese writing had been fixed in vertical columns until last century. There should be a cause. Tsien [1] has attributed verticality of Chinese writing to bamboo strip and brush. However, bamboo strips can also be arranged in horizontal direction to write on. It seems no horizontal writings on bamboo strips of ancient times have ever been discovered. Regarding the origin of verticality of Chinese writing on bamboo slips, there could be three scenarios. In the first case, the scribes chose vertical direction without trying horizontal. In the second case, both vertical and horizontal writings were practiced but later horizontality was abandoned. In the third case, vertical direction was already in place before bamboo strips were used. The first case is unlikely, since scribes can know which direction is more advantageous after trying each one. The second case means vertical arrangement is advantageous over horizontal arrangement in competition. We don’t support this case since we consider horizontal writing is suitable for reading thus should not fail in competition. Let’s talk about the third case.

To find writings before bamboo strips, we focus on two things: writing material and writing instrument. Again, we find bamboo. But this time it is living bamboo. No doubt, as indigenous plant in China, bamboo is abundant, having smooth surface and thin skin. It is easy and convenient to carve on bamboos. The carvings are clear for reading and remain so during bamboo’s lifetime. These conditions are satisfied: writable, readable and relatively preservable. Stones with sharp tip can be the tool. In prehistoric society, perhaps nothing was more suitable for developing writing than living bamboo and stone. It is only natural to write in vertical columns on the round and narrow surface of upright-growing stems.

Living bamboos can be the earliest candidate for writing. One question is: did people start writing on them earlier than on bamboo slips that were cut from them? It is very possible that our ancestors began using stone tools to carve them at the beginning, long before the advents of ink and brush. That is the simplest way of writing in its broad sense. In early times, people might plant bamboos in front of their homes for a variety of usages. People also carved symbols on them for drawing and recording purposes. Later, people found the writings can be migrated to bamboo slips. Carvings on living bamboos in that time might be abundant. It is hard to know the amount of the texts and their complexity. They should be already sequenced vertically. Before bamboo slips, there should have been at least ‘sentences’ written on living bamboos. Later writings on bamboo slip and book inherited the verticality.

Living bamboos and bamboo slips carried the lost origin of Chinese writing

However, symbols in living bamboo cannot last to our generation. Many materials cannot be preserved for such long time. Usually, research on history of writing is based on archeological findings and written records. It seems pre-bamboo slip ancient carvings on living bamboo have never been mentioned. Writing may have already migrated to bamboo slip before the earliest records. It is usually difficult to create works written (engraved etc.) with long-lasting material and method. But it is okay for the majority of writings to last for only years/decades instead of hundreds of years or millennia. For most people, preservation for over a hundred years was not desirable in most cases. Even today, with advanced preservation technique, most published works would not be found a millennium later, not to mention personal writings.

Oracle bone script is the undisputed earliest China’s true writing system dating to Shang dynasty. The oracle bones were mainly for divination of the royal house. Given their special purpose, relative scarcity of bones and shells, and relative difficulty of making the scripts, they should not be the most widely used writing material in that time. The script was already fully developed, with no apparent predecessor. True writing in China could have existed much earlier. Records from other surviving media indicate that bamboo slips existed as early as in oracle bone script period. There are Neolithic signs dating a few millennia earlier. In these millennia, there possibly were many writings on bamboo slips or living bamboos, on which Chinese writing developed.

Conclusion

Carvings on living bamboos with stone tool might have originated Chinese writing. They fixed Chinese system in vertical direction which was later inherited by bamboo slips, paper books and so forth.

References

[1], Tsuen-Hsuin Tsien. Written on bamboo and silk: The Beginnings of Chinese Books and Inscriptions.Second Edition. University of Chicago Press.2004. Page 204.

Great writing, without exception, has four essential elements — subject, significance, structure, and style.

William Faulkner said this about learning to write: “Read, read, read. Read everything — trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You’ll absorb it. Then write.” So that’s what we’re going to do in the next few minutes – we are going to read parts of a very successful piece of writing and pick the writing apart just a bit. We’re going to note aspects of these 4 S’s of great writing in it, and hopefully, as Faulkner says, absorb it so that we can use some of these techniques in our own writing.

The first is subject. Subject is, quite simply, what the piece is about. It’s the topic. Some authors tell us their topic in the title; War and Peace is a good example. How to Win Friends and Influence People tells us in the title that the book is about how to win friends and influence people. Moby Dick is about a whale. Seabiscuit is about a horse.

The subject is the first thing a writer must consider when sitting down to write: What is this going to be about? And it is often the first thing a reader considers when deciding what to read. The reason subject is one of the four essential elements of great writing is that the subject is what gives the piece its purpose for existing.

The second S is significance. Significance addresses the question, “What does this book or article or poem mean to me?” In today’s society, where we’re bombarded with information, we are forced to filter out the things that are insignificant to us. Think about your emails. Do you scroll through, quickly deleting without even reading most of them? Why? Because those particular ones aren’t significant to you. And you don’t have time to read things that aren’t important. If you think about it, when you’re standing in front of the new arrivals table at Barnes and Noble, you are drawn to books that have some kernel of significance for you. And writers have to pick topics significant to a large audience if they hope to sell books. During a trip to Books-A-Million last fall, I noticed that the hardcover bestseller list had 4-5 books about politics. Why? Because we were in the heat of a presidential election. The paperback bestseller list was dominated by the Fifty Shades of Gray trilogy and several knockoffs, none of them very well-written books, in my opinion, but that just goes to show how important subject and significance are to book sales.

The third S is structure. That’s the way the piece is built, the way it’s put together. For example, Elizabeth Gilbert’s bestselling memoir Eat, Pray, Love (which has sold about 8 million copies) is divided into three sections — they’re called Eat and Pray and Love – and each section corresponds to a particular country in her journey – Italy for Eat, India for Pray, and Indonesia for Love. And each of those sections is divided into thirty-six small chapters. It’s a carefully structured book, and structure so important to the author that she even went to the trouble of pointing it out in her introduction. Other examples of ways to structure a work would be reverse chronology, where the plot is revealed in reverse order. The film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, starring Jim Carrey and Kate Winslett, is done this way. A journey or a quest is another classic structure. Familiar examples of a quest would be The Wizard of Oz and Lord of the Rings. There are a hundred different ways to structure what you write, but make no mistake: great writing IS meticulously structured.

The fourth and final S is style. And style encompasses several aspects of writing. One is the author’s tone – does he or she sound happy, angry, hopeful, frustrated or sad? Is the piece serious or funny? Does the writer use elevated language, or is it more direct and plain-spoken? Are the sentences long, short, do they vary in length? Does the author employ stylistic elements such as simile, metaphor, and hyperbole? The writer’s attitude toward the subject is also a stylistic issue. Now, writers have to use their unique voice, but style is often heavily dependent upon the subject.

Good readers make good writers. And that means they read analytically, picking out the four S’s that comprise good writing – subject, significance, structure, and style – and they pay attention to these elements in their own writing. Next time you pick up something to read, think about those four elements. See if the writer paid attention to them, and see if they contribute to the work’s success. And then experiment in your own writing with how to put the 4 S’s to the best possible use.

The Gist of Technical Writing

Technical writing, though may seem to be complex outwardly, is not that much complicated when approached in a pragmatic and systematic way. To make it simple, technical writing is just the process of peeling the outer chunky cover of the complexity of the entailed subject and showing the common reader the right way to feel the inner softness at ease.

The Objective of Technical Writing

Technical Writing is the process of taking away the toughness of the subject and making it simple and straightforward so that even ordinary readers who do not possess the grasp of the subject can easily digest the topic. A technical writer must be capable to assimilate the subject technical communication in its entirety and must be competent enough to translate the same into a commonly used language avoiding all of the included technical jargon.

Though the subjects can vary, an expert technical writer will have to be skillful in providing the readers practical and precise content regarding the discussed subject in an ordinary language. The topic may be based on issues such as computer snags, recently launched innovative apps, description of a consumer gadget, mobile phones, computer tablets, medical items, or many other such things that are par for the course of modern living. A talented technical writer will delve deep into the subject and will gather all the relevant practical points and then will pass them to the readers without losing the grip of the subject, but, in a simple language. There lies the real significance of a technical writer.

Give Valuable Information to Readers

One of the main points that all technical writers will have to take care is to include valuable information that will be useful to the readers rather than detailing the apparent technical data. Readers will be more interested in knowing what the item concerned will impart them, rather than the physical or technical specifications. That does not mean that the writer must completely avoid such technical details; the only thing that he or she must ensure that the detailing must be customer-oriented.

One Basic Tip

To become a good writer, one should become a good reader and when the topic comes to technical writing, the writer must be clued-up on the latest technological advancements. The writer must absorb the scientific advancements as and when it comes to pass, and in our time the best bet for it is to rely on the effectiveness of the various internet platforms. In short, all technical writers must comprehend and assimilate the subject concerned fully before trying to pass on to the readers.

A backstory shows what happened before the story started. The revelation of backstory secrets throughout the story helps enhance the drama in the action even if the story is in genres such as mystery, horror, and action-adventure. A backstory may be the history of a town, objects, or other elements or what happened to the characters earlier that may influence their behavior and mode of action in the plot.

In our time, most stories, especially short stories, begin closer to the end. Until about fifty or so years ago, authors wrote several pages explaining a character’s backstory. Nowadays, we call this info-dump, and we try to avoid it no matter what. The backstory works better if it is given in small doses and only when necessary. On the other hand, it is very important for the writer to be well aware of the backstory even if he never tells it to the readers.

In real life, every person has a backstory or a past that influences his present and future. Knowing his characters’ pasts will enable the writer to present real people to his readers. In other words, the writer needs to know where his characters are coming from so he can use just the right words to express why the characters are acting the way they are acting. Then, to create depth and to kindle the imagination of the reader, the writer may choose only to hint at a backstory and leave shadow areas. This objective can be best achieved if the writer himself is familiar with the backstory in its entirety. For this, it is necessary to make character sheets for the primary characters with emphasis on internal traits and history sheets for the objects and the setting, especially if the objects or the setting are playing an important role throughout the plot.

All short stories, plays, and novels need backstories, but the writer does not need to push a backstory on the reader as a whole. There are instances, however, when the backstory needs to be told in one chunk, such as in a long work as a prologue where an imaginary world is important to the plot.

Other methods of inserting the backstory are through flashbacks, discussions between the characters, and a very short summary of past action somewhere inside the story. The rule of thumb is, stories work better if the backstory is inserted in the first half closer to the middle rather than in the very beginning or at the end. In addition, it is important to remember to make the story more exciting than the backstory, so the backstory does not overpower the plot.

Here is an exercise for writers to test the importance of a backstory:

If you are not sure of the importance of the backstory for a writer, do this exercise to convince yourself. Either write a story just to write the plot (what happened) or write a three sentence plot, first sentence for the beginning, second for the middle, and third for the ending. Then take the setting and the characters and give them backstories. Now write the story, giving it all you’ve got. You do not have to include the backstories, but you should know them as you write. I bet you’ll find that your story has a depth that wouldn’t be there if it didn’t have a backstory.

The 7 elements of creative writing are character, plot, setting, point of view, style, theme and literary devices. Just about everyone agrees on what the elements are though not about how much or how often they should be used. Even if you don’t plan to use any or all of these elements in your writing, you will write better if you know what these tools are and how they are used.

Character

At the least, characters carry out the work of the plot in a story. At the most, characters fuel and drive the entire story. Characters may be human or not, animate or not. Readers identify with characters, becoming involved enough with their fictional worlds to cheer on the luckless underdogs and hate the nasty villains.

Verisimilitude

A special kind of suspension of disbelief occurs in readers’ minds when they are reading and enjoying stories. This suspension can only be achieved when the writing has verisimilitude, which means believability. A reader who constantly has reason to question the validity of a character as it is written, cannot enter the state of suspension of disbelief. Thus characters must be authentic to attract and bond with readers.

Our connection to characters can run deep. Think of the many memorable characters you have read that still seem more real than some people you know. Who doesn’t carry a bit of Holden Caulfield’s alienation and confusion with them forever after reading, The Catcher in the Rye?

Note that you may find inspiration for a character anywhere. You may make a character out of anything. An inanimate character, such as the hat from Miller’s Crossing, may say a good many things while having no mouth.

No Plodding Plots, Please

Simply put, plot is what happens in the story. Generally, plots follow a simple arc. By the time most writers begin to write, they have already been exposed to many plots via popular culture. Every book, movie, and song has a plot–something happens. Even game shows have plots. Develop the habit of looking through the surface and perceiving the underlying skeleton of plot in almost everything.

It has been alleged that only 7 plots exist in English literature. Reading any good collection of Shakespeare’s plays will teach you those 7 plots. As an alternative, several good books on plot are available.

Pithy Old Saw

An oversimplified but pithy old saw about plot says that there is only one plot and to write it you find a character and set him looking for something. Another old saw goes that if your plot is lagging in pace or sagging in tension, kill off someone (a character, of course) to jazz things up a bit. Old saws, as a rule, should be viewed with deep suspicion and used whenever handy.

Setting

Setting is where your story takes place. You may have one or many, depending on the needs of your story. Setting may be large, such as John Irving’s use of place in Until I Find You, which is so pronounced that one or two European cities just may be actual characters. Conversely, your setting may be the living room or kitchen. Just think of the plays you have seen that unfold in only a few settings, such as in Arsenic and Old Lace.

The best advice about using this element is to ask yourself how a specific setting will underscore the themes in your work. Are you using a quest plot that would be supported best by the changing locations of the journey? If your story is about an initiation, a personal growth tale, then setting will seem less important because that type of quest unfolds primarily inside the character’s mind.

I Want to Believe!

The only way to do setting wrong is to use a setting for no reason other than you like it. A superficially selected setting will ring false to readers, so don’t do it. If you write in the Romance genre, wildly romantic settings are appropriate. If you write Science Fiction, make sure you write as a scientist first so that your settings are believable even though your world is obviously imaginary. For several a fine bits of believable SciFi world read anything by Robert L Heinlein.

Point-of-view

In general, we know that the tale grows taller with the telling, so reliability, or the lack of it, in point-of-view quickly becomes an essential tool. Many liars’ points-of-view have been skillfully used to tell a story, such as Tom Sawyer in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, with notable effectiveness (Tom’s many explanations to adults).

In determining whose point-of-view to use, determine first whose story you are telling. Is your narrator the best character to tell the story? Imagine Lolita written from any but Humbert’s perspective! Do you need your narrator to lie or tell the truth?

There are several choices of types of point-of-view: first person, I and me; second person, you; more commonly third person, he, she, Jeanne, Richard; third person omniscient which includes seeing all characters’ minds; and lastly third person limited which tells the whole story through one character.

Choose the point-of-view that will best present the story you want to tell in the way you want to tell it. Don’t be afraid to try writing your story from a few different viewpoints until you find the right one. Just don’t be afraid of trying anything in your writing because no matter how long you have been writing or how much you have written, it is intended to be a lifelong journey on which you constantly discover new things about yourself as a writer and about this big old world you write about (or from, in the case of the SciFi’s).

Style

Style is slippery to take hold of because it is made up of thin, smokey ephemeral things which are clearly extant but also difficult to grasp. It is a signature inside your writing and drawn from your vocabulary, syntax, rhythm, voice, and mood. It may be imitated but is mostly a natural byproduct of you. It defies most efforts to manipulate it. It is also as individual as DNA. Read anything by Kurt Vonnegut, and then follow that with some Ernest Hemingway and you will readily see that each writer is brilliant and crazy-gifted and just as different from the other as possible.

Changing your style, if you wish to, can be achieved with contrivances such as elevated diction and specific themes. It is even possible to mimic authors with more pronounced styles, but no one has suggested it makes you a better writer. Some freelancers claim they can control their styles, changing from one style to another as their assignments demand, but again, it is contrivance for a certain purpose, not an actual modification of personal style. Be yourself. It’s easier and makes for better writing.

Theme

Theme in fiction is not limited to any specific set of ideas. Your theme(s) refers to the ‘moral of the story” or the bigger ideas in your story such as murder, betrayal, honesty, and compassion. Theme is like setting in that if you deliberately use a certain theme with the intent of making a given point rather than because it naturally fits into your story, that piece of writing will probably fail.

Show Me, Don’t Tell Me

The problem with premeditated pedantic use of theme is that you invariably sound preachy. Art doesn’t preach because art teaches from the inside out, changing people in meaningful ways via the internal experience of learning, not shouting at them until they agree because they are tired of listening.

Readers like to decide for themselves what your story means or says about the larger world. Readers don’t like to be preached at nor obviously told how to interpret events in your writing. Don’t do it. Show without telling. Lead, if you must consciously lead at all, by example. Tell your story with as little of your own prejudices and interference as you can manage. Trash story lines that include heavy-handed themes. You will know when you are heavy-handed by the exaggerated need to keep on explaining why.

Ironically enough, no matter what theme you believe you have written, your readers will decide for themselves what you meant anyway. And that is the miracle and majesty of art.

Literary Devices

No deus ex machina

The first literary device was called deus ex machina and was used in ancient Greek drama. It was, literally, a god character who was lowered down with ropes onto the stage when the hero needed rescuing or immediate godly intervention was needed to resolve the plot of the story. Even the Greeks who invented it knew it was cheesy. We use the phrase, deus ex machina, now to include all manner of cheesy, contrived plot resolutions.

Other types of literary devices include but are not limited to allusion, diction, epigraph euphemism, foreshadowing, imagery, metaphor/simile, and personification. You may not plan to use any of these, but do recall that everything written, ever, contains these devices, and they are exceedingly useful to writers. As with all tools, use the appropriate one at the appropriate time but do not use a device in place of good writing or else you too will be cheesy.

How well were you paying attention

We know our readers are always paying attention, but some of you like to be tested, so here is a quiz over this article. The anwers are not hidden just below the questions, so on your honor, no cheating.

1. It’s a great idea to use deus ex machina to solve plot dilemmas.

2. Imagery is only used in animated stories.

3. It’s a surefire good idea to use a strong preachy theme in your stories.

4. Ancient Greek playwrights invented diction.

5. Foreshadowing is a very good brand of eye shadow.

6. Fire is one of the 7 elements of fiction.

7. You must use each of the 7 elements of fiction at least one time per story.

8. Your author had far too much fun making up this quiz.

Answers: F, F, F, F, F, F, F, T

Medical writing is a special subset of technical writing that requires familiarity with medical and pharmaceutical terminology. It is the perfect writing niche for writers with a medical, chemistry and/or pharmacology background.

And within the medical writing subset, regulatory writing is another specialty that pays very well since your employers are usually pharmaceutical companies that rarely have any cash problems.

Regulatory writers produce the documents to secure the approval of the government’s regulatory agencies before a new drug can be marketed for general public use. In every country the respective regulatory agency differs but in the United States it is the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

There are several types of specialized documents that you’d be asked to write as a regulatory writer. Here are the two most important of them all:

IND (Investigational New Drug Application). This document is prepared after the tests on laboratory animals are concluded and before the drug is considered to be ready for clinical trials on human subjects. The document must include complete data on the drug, including all its chemical and molecular properties. Plus, it also needs to include the results of the testing on lab animals. In the United States, a pharmaceutical company must have its IND approved by the FDA before proceeding any further. Sometimes the approval of a new drug can make or break a company. So you can imagine the importance of the IND document.

NDA (New Drug Application). This document reports the results of all clinical trials conducted on human subjects. NDA must be written in a tight logical style, presenting all the pharmacological, physiological and other pertinent data in a sequential manner to prove that the drug is safe and ready to be marketed for general public use. Since defective drugs can easily lead to class-action lawsuits, this is another document that should be prepared carefully, by regulatory writers who know how to ask the right questions to SMEs (Subject matter Experts) to make sure all possible questions are answered satisfactorily.

Regulatory writers prepare other important documents as well, like CTD (Common Technical Document) and MAA (Marketing Authorization Application).

If as a technical writer you have any leanings towards medicine, biomedicine, and pharmacology, I’d strongly encourage you to explore this lucrative niche for your future career.