Sunday 5 April 2020

Writing in the Time of COVID-19



The reporter, staff writer and non-fiction author Deneen L Brown has an invaluable piece of advice for writers. She says “The hardest thing about the beginning is the blank screen. Writing is like scraping off a piece of yourself, people can see beneath your skin.

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23 comments:

  1. That is a lovely piece. And yes, the reader also brings a piece of him/herself to the table. A piece of themselves which will influence their response, and even change the writer's focus...

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  2. Thank you for this excellent piece of writing, and for the little details that will make our stories interesting. I can just imagine Mr. James struggling with the cling-wrap.
    No sir, that editor is always breathing over my neck. :)

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  3. Hay que aprovechar estos días de tranquilidad y llenar la pantalla en blanco.
    Que todo vaya bien. Saludos.

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  4. Hi ACIL - times are different ... we all need to adjust and as with anything written it needs to engage and be unique to that author ... not repetitive of others' work. You always engage us (and educate me) ... love the Ulysses' soliloquy ... took me back to other eras. Thanks for the reminder too - that there are lots of little trials we need to live through as life marches on ... take care of you and yours - Hilary

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  5. Hei!Dette er spennende og lærerik lesning.Helt enig med deg!Du viser ditt innerste når du skriver vist man velger det!Jeg har ofte tenkt på å skrive en roman en selvbiografi..Det hørest så fint ut når jeg drømmer hva jeg skal skrive men når pennen er der er alt sammen borte vekk!
    Men når du skriver tror jeg som du sier det er viktig å bli forstått..noe den andre kan kjenne seg igjen i..kjærlighet, hat, ensomhet, glede, natur, krig ,arbeidsledighet kan mangen av oss treffe godt..og så er det bruk av metaforer for å få frem buskapet enda bedre..Åhh dette syntes jeg var kjekt å lese fra deg!Er du en skribent forfatter journalist kansje?Du snakker veldig bra!Jeg tenker på hun som skrev Harry Potter.Fattig på en liten hybel med sine barn,,i kjedsomheten og ensomheten skrev hun fantasi for å komme seg igjennomhverdagen..og se den ble populær!Ok..gleder meg til å lese mer fra deg..Tenker og på å få lære hvordan man skriver en roman..begynnelse midtpunkt og slutt?

    Ha det fint da Cuban!

    Ønsker deg og dine kjære en velsignet og frisk påske :))

    Anita

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  6. You make me feel bad, kinda.
    And I think, between "us bloggers", unprofessional wsriters, there is a different approach.
    Just go.
    I agree, I am the one who writes and reads, too. But touch-typing sadly is not a gift I got!
    And, really. How come I fimd so many wrongh written words yin books?

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  7. You've offered some great advise, and even though I honestly believe my writing would ultimately benefit (and would definitely proceed at a much more acceptable clip) if I had the gumption to fire my annoying inner editor, alas, I am a wimp. She's been with me forever, and I can't bear the thought of letting her go. :)

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  8. The blank sheet of paper has become the black screen, it would seem.

    I occasionally say my brains are in my fingers, especially in terms of spelling. I close my eyes and turn the fingers loose. My experience has been that some "editors" choose to rewrite material in their own image, so to speak, as opposed to actually edit material. Good editors are rare, I think. I enjoy what you are writing here and find it useful to reread and to ponder .... thank you, CiL ....

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  9. Good advice, but I’m glad that the editors won’t be furloughed forever!

    www.thepulpitandthepen.com

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  10. Your talk of touch-typing made me smile. I'll never forget how amazed my oldest granddaughter was when I demonstrated to her that I could type with my eyes closed, even correcting errors by backspacing when I knew I'd mistyped. She'd never noticed that the F and J keys on a Qwerty keyboard had raised bumps on them for navigation. Who knows.... maybe they don't all have that feature anymore. That said, closed eyes are never going to catch autocorrect typos!

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  11. Brilliant advice, Mario. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and insights. Be well.

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  12. Absolutely, it is very pain when come to editing! Seems the working hard has never ended.

    Thanks for sharing the tips!

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  13. Great post! I thought the quote was beautiful and true.

    Perla Blog

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  14. I love that first blank page - it is both exciting and terrifying!

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  15. Blimey, I wish your texts had been available decades ago, when I was young! :)
    Greetings to London. Stay safe!

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  16. it is not only writing, the same is true for photography and art and probably many other things.
    Take care, stay safe. :)

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  17. Hello and thanks for your comment on my blog. It has been a long time sine I came here, all because of computer hiccups. Hoping you are well and coping with the present silence. I leave you with the current phrase.... stay safe,

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  18. To be honest, I love the blank page!
    Or the blank screen. So much room to play.
    It's not hard or difficult. Just write.
    Stay well and be safe. Cheers.

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  19. Another wonderful post. You nailed it (or us:) again.

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  20. Great writing at the time of this global crisis. I read the post on medium also. Keep up the good work.

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  21. So eloquently expressed...and so pertinently illustrated! Many thanks, CiL.😊😊

    Stay safe.

    Greetings from Hampshire!

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  22. like some writers say, now we have all the time to write, but the mood is far from good.

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