Drafty Words

WRITERS

Turning On Your Idea Machine

A writer is an incurable student, eternally opinionated, and insatiably nosey. We also have an uncontrollable desire to share what we have learned. You can turn that into dollars.

Every single thing you do, every moment of the day, is fuel for the idea-machine that is your brain, your income source.

When I first decided to be a writer, I was young and eager and full of ideas. That desire was squelched before I was 21 by a less-than-understanding currently ex-spouse. Later, 16 years later, to be exact, the urge to write and share erupted in full force.

My first real fear was that I would have only one or two good ideas, and then the well would dry up. I dove into writer magazines and books, at the library and on the news stand at bookstores, reading everything that promised to help me generate ideas. Out of it all, I found one constant – to be a writer, to get ideas, a writer must write. I kept paper and pen or pencil everywhere I could. I had them by my bed, in my purse, at my desk at my bread-and-butter job, in the car (or in my tote when riding the bus), by my side when watching television.

I learned to write down every thought that came into my head, because, I learned, you cannot recapture that million dollar idea, if you don’t write it down. Nothing is as fleeting as an uncaught thought.

You cannot resist the urge to write if you are a writer. You will write memos, you will write notes on how you do your work, you will write letters, birthday poems, letters to editors, and more. You will write on scraps of paper, on note pads, on your computer, and online.

EDITORS

Forever in Edit Mode

An editor cannot help correcting, critiquing, and cajoling words into the proper sequence and coherence.

As a child, I'd read something and ask my mother, or my uncle, why the newspaper or magazine was allowed to spell something one way, when we all knew it was supposed to be spelled the correct way.

An editor cannot read a dinner menu without finding an error, no matter how tiny.

An editor cannot read a 100-page booklet without noticing that, on page 4, there were bullets listing six categories, and on page 37, it described in paragraphs of text, seven items.

An editor cannot read anything without finding something to change.

Real editors can decide whether to ignore a minor comma-issue, if the sense of the sentence still exists, but happily slash seven lines of golden words because they do not add to the product.

Real editors do not need six-syllable words when a one- or two-syllable word will do.

Real editors consider it a challenge when told to "cut 500 words."

I knew I was an editor when I was no longer afraid to stand my ground on an issue of worth. I knew the difference between trivial editorial issues and those that would affect the context of the work.

I knew I was an editor when my first suggestions for changes were unarguably accepted and acted upon.

Finally, a real editor is not afraid to end a sentence (as above) with a preposition when she can get away with it.

Tidbits

I've been blessed with a few dear friends who pointed out items needing correction. A tip to my peers: when editing or writing onine, be very careful. It's more difficult to spot mistakes in that mode. Special thanks to both Barbara and Cindy.

Barbara is a long-time friend, writer, editor, consultant, and more, and caught quite a few early errors on this site. I've placed her site in my Links on this page.

Cindy, who just checked out the site, has decided she is an Editor because she noted that, under Writers, I left out the first "n" in "uncontrollable" (which I've now corrected). Thank you, both!