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The First Draft: Writing With Precision And Passion!

Often, potentially brilliant pieces of writing are discarded because they seem amateurish and lack a ‘final polish’. We often end up spending very little time minute details, as silly mistakes can make even an amateur’s work look like one written by an expert, so long as it is edited correctly. Do not let your manuscript be an example of sloppy work, deep down you know that there is always room for improvement, even when you think you have given it your best shot.

Free your work from errors, even if you feel that you should leave your work, you might not notice that blatant mistake on page 54. Typing errors and bad sentence construction can serve as a source of humor to your editor, but it will never make them accept your work. I am sure it is more important to you to be accepted rather than to make people laugh! Hence, make sure your work is free from spelling and grammatical errors. The readability of your work will diminish if your writing is laden with them.
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A Mathematical Approach to Writing

With due acknowledgement to Professor DJ Higham

University of Strathclyde

For many years I have used mathematics as a hobby for intellectual stimulation and as something I was not very good at while in school, I find it a challenge. It came as something of a surprise that I found what has become for me the simplest of tip sheets for writing. Professor Higham’s list of tips is also proof that mathematicians have a sense of humour and are not square..

The full list of tips is available by clicking on the link above, but some of them are so good they deserve a more detailed consideration.

“1. Every sentence should make sense in isolation. Like that one.”

This seems blindingly obvious; however, you will find that writers do not follow this simple rule. I must confess I am one of them, as my thoughts race along faster than my typing speed and the result becomes “run on sentences”. These are overly long sentences that do not have a proper structure and do not contribute to making my point. If you’re not sure about a sentence that you have written, my basic rule is to split it into two sentences and see how that reads.

“6. A writer needs three qualities: creativity, originality, clarity and a good short term memory”

The Fear of Rejection

Being told “No” just brings you one step closer to being told “Yes”

If you have now put together a writing portfolio to provide prospective clients with samples of your work you’re ready for the next step, which is to start asking for paid projects.

Asking for a paid project is for many a step too far.

What if they say “No”, criticise my work, or call my bluff on a topic I’ve researched but don’t really know about, to pass myself off as an expert on it?

There are two things I’ve learned by getting my hands dirty on the keyboard and they are simply this:

One: you will be told “No” far more times than you will be told “Yes” – it’s not personal, build a bridge and get over it and better still, try to find out why you’ve been rejected and see what you can learn for next time.

Two: somewhere there is a buyer who is going to love what you do and your task is to find them. When you are told “No” it is not a sign of failure, it is simply a step along the road to success and having your work accepted.