Scrinia Libris

04/23/2022

Como você está prejudicando sua ignorância hoje?

04/23/2022

Como você está prejudicando sua ignorância hoje?

11/08/2021

O que é a leitura profunda e por que ela faz bem para o cérebro - BBC News Brasil

O que é a leitura profunda e por que ela faz bem para o cérebro - BBC News Brasil

Esse tipo de leitura estimula o pensamento crítico e a capacidade de análise, mas vem sofrendo cada vez mais a concorrência das plataformas digitais.

07/11/2021

Como você está prejudicando a ignorância hoje?

01/06/2020

100 Best Writing Websites: 2020 Edition

100 Best Writing Websites: 2020 Edition

It’s here! Did your favorite site make The Write Life’s list of best writing websites in 2020?

09/28/2019

Financial Times

Financial Times

Is it ever OK to colour-code your books?

08/20/2019

How to Write Better: 8 Straightforward Techniques to Try Today

Como escrever melhor: 8 técnicas diretas para tentar hoje

1. Cortar palavras desnecessárias
2. Evite frases bem gastas
3. Escreva diretamente para "você" (em não-ficção)
4. Varie estruturas de sentença
5. Use subposições como sinalização
6. Use uma linguagem direta
7. Leia em voz alta (ou edite no papel)
8. Use o verificador gramatical

How to Write Better: 8 Straightforward Techniques to Try Today

1. Cut unnecessary words
2. Avoid well-worn phrases
3. Write directly to “you” (in nonfiction)
4. Vary sentence structures
5. Use subheadings as signposts
6. Use direct, straightforward language
7. Read aloud (or edit on paper)
8. Use a grammar checker

https://thewritelife.com/how-to-write-better/

About the Author: Ali Luke
Whatever you write, you want to get your thoughts across as clearly and effectively as possible.

If you’re a novelist, you don’t want awkward word choices or repetitive sentence structures to distract your readers from the story.

If you’re a freelancer, you don’t want your work to seem sloppy or poorly edited.

If you’re a blogger, you don’t want readers to switch off because you’re far too wordy.

Want the good news? Even if your writing skills aren’t as strong as you’d like, there are plenty of straightforward techniques you can use to improve them.

Here are some suggestions for how to write better.

1. Cut unnecessary words

Here are two paragraphs that say the same thing. Which one is stronger?

In my opinion, the majority of freelancers should probably avoid working for free (or for a nominal sum) unless they are at a very early stage of their career and as yet have no pieces for their portfolio at all.

Freelancers shouldn’t work for free unless they’re just starting out and don’t have any pieces for their portfolio.

The second clearly states a stronger case.

If you’re writing a blog post, most readers will assume that it gives your opinion, so you don’t have to state that. Simply be clear, firm and direct.

2. Avoid well-worn phrases

Some phrases are so familiar that they’ve lost their impact: they’ve become clichés.

For instance:

At the end of the day…
Like stealing candy from a baby…
For all intents and purposes… (sometimes miswritten as “for all intensive purposes”!)
Let the cat out of the bag…
It can be tricky to spot these in your own writing, and you might want to take a quick look through this huge list of clichés to avoid here on the Be a Better Writer site.

When you edit, you don’t need to cut every cliché…but do check whether a rephrasing might work better.

In dialogue, or in a first-person narrative, clichés can be a helpful way of characterizing someone’s speech or thought patterns — but do make sure you’re being careful and deliberate.

3. Write directly to “you” (in nonfiction)

Although this isn’t appropriate for every form of nonfiction, bloggers and freelancers often write directly to the reader as “you”.

This is a great way to make your writing direct, conversational and stronger.

Blog posts and articles quite often use “you” or “your” very early on, in the title and/or introduction. For instance, this post on The Write Life:

Freelance or Full Time: Which Journalism Path is Right for You?

Want to work in the media industry as a writer?

You generally have two options: You can seek employment as a staff member of a publication, or look for freelance writing opportunities.

How to Format a Book: 10 Tips Your Editor Wants You To Know

Unless you prefer your friends to be story nerds or those who lean toward obsessive-compulsive tendencies when it comes to grammar, you shouldn’t necessarily seek to befriend your editor.

(Emphasis mine.)

As in these examples, use the singular “you” and avoid phrases like “some of you may know”. Yes, you (hopefully!) have more than one reader, but each reader experiences your piece individually.

You can also use “I” where appropriate (e.g. to give an example from your own life) – though usually it’s best to keep the focus of your piece on the reader.

4. Vary sentence structures

What’s wrong with this paragraph?

You should write regularly (not necessarily daily). You should aim to write at least once or twice a week (I recommend a total of 3 – 4 hours per week). You may find it difficult to keep this up at first (especially if you’ve not written much before).

The advice in it is perfectly reasonable. There’s nothing hideously wrong with the actual words used. But the three sentences are very similarly structured: each one starts with “You” then a modal verb (“should” / “may”), and each one ends with a phrase in parentheses.

When you have several sentences in a row that follow the same pattern, they stand out…in a bad way.

Sometimes, it’s appropriate to structure your sentences like this — e.g. in a bullet-pointed list — but in regular paragraphs, it’s often unintentional on the author’s part, and it seems artless and poorly edited to the reader.

For lots of help with sentence structure, check out It Was the Best of Sentences, It Was the Worst of Sentences: A Writer’s Guide to Crafting Killer Sentences, by June Casagrande.

5. Use subheadings as signposts

If you’re writing blog posts, articles or sales copy, subheadings are crucial.

They break up long pieces and help readers stay focused; they also offer “signposts” to readers who may be skimming for specific information.

When you craft your subheadings, think about:

Making them clear and direct (just like titles / headings) — don’t try to get clever!
Keeping them short — subheadings have a larger font than regular text, and don’t generally look good when they wrap around the end of a line.
Being consistent with the structure — for instance, each subheading might start with an imperative verb (as in this post).

6. Use direct, straightforward language

It’s rare that you’ll want to write something deliberately indirect! Instead, you’ll want your words to come across clearly and strongly to the reader.

This may mean avoiding the passive voice – advice that you’ve probably heard before! In case you need a recap:

Active voice: John threw the ball. — succinct and clear

Passive voice: The ball was thrown by John. — wordier and less direct

The passive voice allows the agent (the person performing the action) to be omitted from the sentence altogether:

The ball was thrown.

This can be useful; for instance, you might be writing about something where the agent is unimportant, or where you want to conceal the agent. (“Mistakes were made” is a classic example here.)

In general, though, you should write in a direct, straightforward way.

Make it as easy as possible for readers to engage with your ideas or your story.

7. Read aloud (or edit on paper)

No one’s first draft is perfect, and the above six suggestions should help you rework yours.

Often, it helps to go through your piece slowly and methodically — many writers find that reading aloud helps, as this highlights the cadence of your words.

If you prefer not to read aloud (or if your colleagues, family or cat would give you funny looks if you tried it), then print out your draft so you can edit on paper.

Using a different format makes it easier to spot typos and repetitive phrasings.

At times when printing isn’t practical, I’ve also found it helpful to convert my draft digitally: that might mean turning a Word document into a .pdf, putting a novel manuscript onto my Kindle or previewing a blog post so I can get closer to the reader’s experience.

Confident, powerful writing will help your message (or your story) have its full impact on your reader.

8. Use a grammar checker

If you’re serious about learning how to write better and don’t have access to an in-person editor, consider using a grammar checker tool.

It will help you fix grammar and replace commonly used words. Some tools even tell you why you should make a certain change, which is an added bonus because it helps you learn and improve your writing skills.

This is an updated version of a story that was previously published. We update our posts as often as possible to ensure they’re useful for our readers.

Photo via Alissa Kumarova/ Shutterstock

Ali Luke blogs about the art, craft and business of writing at Aliventures, where you can grab your copy of her mini-ebook Time to Write (plus other freebies).

Want to improve your writing skills? A veteran freelancer offers some simple ways to learn how to write better.

07/14/2019

Exame

Exame

A gente testou o novo Kindle e falamos se ele é mesmo muito bom #maislidasexame

01/06/2019

Financial Times

Financial Times

Get into the habit of writing three longhand pages of a notebook or about 750 words as soon as you wake up.

08/16/2018

11 Open Source Tools for Writers | It's FOSS

11 Open Source Tools for Writers | It's FOSS

As an inspiring or established writer, you have plenty of open source tools at your disposal for all your creative needs.

08/10/2018

Free Webinar: Is Self-Publishing Right for You? - The Writer

Free Webinar: Is Self-Publishing Right for You? - The Writer

August 23rd, 2018 at 2:00 p.m. EDT (11:00 a.m. PST) Considering self-publishing? Presenter Kerrie Flanagan – an author with both traditional and self-publishing experience – will tell you everything you need to know in this free webinar. We’ll cover the pros and cons of traditional and self-pu...

08/08/2018

Três em cada quatro crianças da Alemanha leem livros e revistas impressos, aponta estudo

Apesar do avanço dos dispositivos eletrônicos... ==> https://glo.bo/2KG8BmK #G1

Estudo aponta que, apesar da digitalização, jovens de 4 a 13 anos de idade ainda preferem ler no papel. Na hora de brincar, interesse se divide entre smartphones e bonecas e quebra-cabeças.

12/17/2017

Revista Mundo Estranho

Revista Mundo Estranho

O processo é simples e mais democrático do que a publicação tradicional, já que, para ter seu livro impresso e à venda em livrarias, é preciso um contrato com uma editora ou pagar do próprio bolso, o que nem sempre é barato.

12/16/2017

Revista Mundo Estranho

Revista Mundo Estranho

Há pelo menos duas versões

08/17/2017

Revista Superinteressante

Revista Superinteressante

A complexidade daquilo que lemos pode afetar diretamente a qualidade do que escrevemos

#BlogComoAsPessoasFuncionam

08/10/2017

DW Brasil

DW Brasil

Na Alemanha, 55% das crianças leem várias vezes por semana.

07/20/2017

Scrinia Libris

Aniversariante em 21/07: ERNEST HEMINGWAY
★ 21/07/1899
✝ 02/07/1961
Nobel de Literatura “por seu domínio da arte da narrativa, mais recentemente demonstrada em O Velho e o Mar e pela influência que ele exerceu sobre estilo contemporâneo”.

“São necessários dois anos para aprender a falar.
E sessenta para aprender a calar.”
ERNEST HEMINGWAY

07/20/2017

The New York Times

The New York Times

As you turn the pages, notice the quality of light, the color and even the smell of the ink on the page, the way that the spine of your book feels against the palms of your hands.

07/07/2017

Irã inaugura em Teerã maior biblioteca-jardim do mundo

Além das bibliotecas (no plural) do edifício, ainda há loja de artes e de ciências, dez salas de cinema, auditório, área de pesquisa universitária e centros científicos para crianças e adolescentes.

Prédio se chama Jardim dos Livros de Teerã, tem cerca de 110 mil m² de área, capacidade para 240 mil obras e abriga livrarias, lojas, cinemas e centros científicos

04/07/2017

"Eu sou uma parte de tudo que já li."
Theodore Roosevelt

12/30/2016

Gosta de Realidade Virtual?
Leia um livro.

12/27/2016

HuffPost Brasil

HuffPost Brasil

A melhor tecnologia para os amantes da leitura que você respeita!

08/23/2016

InfoMoney

InfoMoney

A loja virtual também promete R$ 100 de desconto no leitor de e-books, o Kindle Paperwhite

07/29/2016

BBC Travel

BBC Travel

The library was previously open only to scholars and researchers, but now it will have a wing open to the general public. (via Quartz)

07/19/2016

Finalmente um incentivo a leitura que vai funcionar.

(será?)

02/20/2016

“Vivemos para os livros” –
Umberto Eco (1932–2016)

12/14/2015

Reading.

10/29/2015

Hoje é o DIA NACIONAL DO LIVRO.

Que tal menos Face
e mais BOOK?

Sua vida vai CURTIR.

10/03/2015

INSPIRAÇÃO – “Hemingway escreve de pé. Calçando um par de enormes mocassins”, descreveu a revista literária The Paris Review, em 1958(Torre Johnson/Magnum Photos/Latinstock)

09/12/2015

“Leia os melhores livros em primeiro lugar, ou você pode não ter a chance de lê- los até o fim”
Henry Dadid Thoreau

09/12/2015

Kindle Scout para brasileiros

Escreva um livro e ganhe dinheiro com isso.

Plataforma de “apostas literárias” da Amazon passa a aceitar originais de autores brasileiros Nesta quarta-feira [09], a Amazon anunciou oficialmente que passará a aceitar originais de brasileiros ...

07/21/2015

“Algumas vezes um homem inteligente é obrigado a ficar bêbado para passar um tempo com os burros.”
ERNEST HEMINGWAY
★ 21/07/1899
✝ 02/07/1961
Nobel de Literatura “por seu domínio da arte da narrativa, mais recentemente demonstrada em O Velho e o Mar e pela influência que ele exerceu sobre estilo contemporâneo”.

07/20/2015

ERNEST HEMINGWAY
★ 21/07/1899
✝ 02/07/1961
Nobel de Literatura “por seu domínio da arte da narrativa, mais recentemente demonstrada em O Velho e o Mar e pela influência que ele exerceu sobre estilo contemporâneo”.

07/20/2015

Aniversariante em 21/07: ERNEST HEMINGWAY
★ 21/07/1899
✝ 02/07/1961
Nobel de Literatura “por seu domínio da arte da narrativa, mais recentemente demonstrada em O Velho e o Mar e pela influência que ele exerceu sobre estilo contemporâneo”.

“São necessários dois anos para aprender a falar.
E sessenta para aprender a calar.”
ERNEST HEMINGWAY

07/13/2015

The Daily Routines of Great Writers

A rotina diária de grandes escritores.

"A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without putting a word on paper." UPDATE: These daily routines have