Life
Exploring The Uncharted Territories Of Writing
Writing is often likened to embarking on a journey, where words morph into the conveyances that whisk readers away to uncharted realms. Just as voyaging to obscure destinations proffers the thrill of revelation, writing permits us to probe the uncharted territories of our imagination. Let us Delve into the connection between writing and traversing lesser-known places, and how pursuing our inquisitiveness can unlock concealed treasures in both domains.
By Freddie's Lost Treasures2 years ago in Writers
When Everyone is a Writer
You are not likely to find many who would disagree with an argument suggesting that the overall quality of writing on this website, and others like it, is as good or better than it has ever been. While the quality of writing may be at or near its peak, the quality of reading seems to be at or near an all time low. By this I do not mean the number of people reading, or the number of page views, or whatever happens to be the stat du jour used by the businesspeople running these sites to measure their popularity and therefore their financial value. Those are quantitative measures, what I am talking about is a purely qualitative one. The quality I am referring to is the quality of reading.
By Everyday Junglist2 years ago in Writers
Writing Excuses: I Suck at Writing
Author's preface: The below article is a satirical take on an article I read many years ago, and which I cannot currently find to link here (sorry). That article was titled Writing Excuses: I'm Too Tired to Write (or something close to that) and was a serious look at one writers struggle to motivate themselves to write. It took aim at one of the more common excuses people use to get out of doing anything, being too tired. I thought it would be funny to turn that idea on its head and into one of my favorite things to write about, how bad I suck at writing. lol!
By Everyday Junglist2 years ago in Writers
Writing from the Original Position Behind the Veil of Ignorance
I have been thinking and writing about writing a lot these days. Mostly it has been in response to other articles I have come across which suggest various ways you can become a more popular or successful writer. As is my usual m.o., I have taken some of these articles to task with satirical replies that attempt to illustrate with humor just how ridiculous such advice typically is. An example of one of the satirical pieces and one with a (slightly) more serious tone are linked below to give you a sense.
By Everyday Junglist2 years ago in Writers
A Druid and an Elf Walk in a Tavern
The spark of an idea came to me one day when I was working. I had never written for my own enjoyment before, and I found myself imagining the characters my wife and I had played for a Dungeons and Dragons campaign going on adventures of their own. Once I got home, I pulled out the computer and started typing away until I had a full chapter, that I titled “A Druid and an Elf Walk in a Tavern”.
By Georges-Henri Daigle2 years ago in Writers
Why Writing is so Difficult, but Worth its Weight in Gold. . Top Story - August 2023.
Breaking into the writing profession (whether freelance or otherwise) is far from easy. Then again, I was not searching for the writing profession to accept with me with open arms. The profession came to me. In case you are wondering; the structure of this is part memoir, part wisdom.
By Justine Crowley2 years ago in Writers
There is a Price to Be Paid For “Dumbing Down” Your Writing to Appeal to the “Average” Reader
There seems to be some consensus, at least on across the blogosphere, that in order to appeal to the so called “average reader” and maximize readership it is necessary to “dumb down” one’s writings. In the past I have come down very hard against this idea. In particular I take issue with the idea of grade level writing, or trying to keep one’s style and grammar and vocabulary choices at or below a certain arbitrary grade level, sixth and eighth grade seem to be the most common options. The idea being that people are generally not all that smart, not that patient, and will quickly click away from anything that challenges their intellect or in which they encounter unusual words they are not familiar with. Basically anything that makes them to think too much or forces them to come to terms with their own ignorance. Recently a writing colleague on a different site responded to my insistence that I would never dumb down my writing by asking a very simple question, would it hurt to do so? She went on to explain that as a non native speaker of English it is even more difficult for her than for most to keep up with “higher level” writing and she lamented that it was very frustrating having to constantly “go up and get a dictionary” to look up words that she did not know. I will admit the non native speaker was not the stereotype of the person I had in my head when imagining these so called ordinary joe’s and jane’s, and her points had some validity. They certainly forced me to stop and think about my position, and ultimately caused me to write this piece. For that I am eminently thankful to her and her question.
By Everyday Junglist2 years ago in Writers
