My Writing Improved
As part of my new year’s efforts, I updated every copyright at the bottom of each blog page. During this fun activity, I looked over my 95 creations and noticed an improvement. My voice, written personality, grammar, word choice, and descriptions were all better. In addition, my topic choices were livelier, more interesting and engaged the reader better.
The biggest difference is the flow. I have used the term “flow” many times to describe sentence structure, and it’s difficult to define. If a sentence has good flow, the reader does not need to pause. My older blogs read clunky and I found myself thinking about what I meant to say. Of course, repetition hones skill in any human project.
Let’s take a trip back into memory lane and visit an excerpt from my second blog, Writing in the Tom Clancy Universe dated September 24, 2017:
“When I wrote Interviewing Immortality, I decided to take the parallel approach. I felt that the Tom Clancy Universe was too complex. I even went one step further and set this book slightly in the past. This allowed me to have some leeway to grow and be sure of the facts. For example, I know what TV shows were on 5 years ago. That will never change. I found that this was easier than the present, because the present is actually part of the future.”
Errrr. Wow, I see many issues. Let’s look at the first sentence. “When I wrote Interviewing Immortality, I decided to take the parallel approach.” It would read a lot better as, “In writing Interviewing Immortality, I chose the parallel approach.”
Another sentence. “I found that this was easier than the present, because the present is actually part of the future.” A classic Bill writing tick. “I found that this” Bad form and an unclear subject. “Creating a fictional story set slightly in the past is easier to develop than a story set in the present.” Much better.
As I read, it’s clear that I clearly threw my heart into the effort which resulted in good content. I like my improvement and this validates the success of my writing efforts. Did I achieve perfection in my newer blogs? No, but that’s fine. As I pointed out in a recent blog, I intend to use blogging as an advertisement tool and expand my writing. From a high-level perspective, I set a weekly goal and achieve it. That in itself is a great achievement. Well, except for two weeks ago. I needed a vacation.
The biggest difference is the flow. I have used the term “flow” many times to describe sentence structure, and it’s difficult to define. If a sentence has good flow, the reader does not need to pause. My older blogs read clunky and I found myself thinking about what I meant to say. Of course, repetition hones skill in any human project.
Let’s take a trip back into memory lane and visit an excerpt from my second blog, Writing in the Tom Clancy Universe dated September 24, 2017:
“When I wrote Interviewing Immortality, I decided to take the parallel approach. I felt that the Tom Clancy Universe was too complex. I even went one step further and set this book slightly in the past. This allowed me to have some leeway to grow and be sure of the facts. For example, I know what TV shows were on 5 years ago. That will never change. I found that this was easier than the present, because the present is actually part of the future.”
Errrr. Wow, I see many issues. Let’s look at the first sentence. “When I wrote Interviewing Immortality, I decided to take the parallel approach.” It would read a lot better as, “In writing Interviewing Immortality, I chose the parallel approach.”
Another sentence. “I found that this was easier than the present, because the present is actually part of the future.” A classic Bill writing tick. “I found that this” Bad form and an unclear subject. “Creating a fictional story set slightly in the past is easier to develop than a story set in the present.” Much better.
As I read, it’s clear that I clearly threw my heart into the effort which resulted in good content. I like my improvement and this validates the success of my writing efforts. Did I achieve perfection in my newer blogs? No, but that’s fine. As I pointed out in a recent blog, I intend to use blogging as an advertisement tool and expand my writing. From a high-level perspective, I set a weekly goal and achieve it. That in itself is a great achievement. Well, except for two weeks ago. I needed a vacation.
You’re the best -Bill
January 15, 2020
