I Am The Riddler

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How to Improve your Writing

Rick Riordan's Writing Tips

Rick Riordan:

Taste is subjective, and opinions differ about what "good writing" looks like. Most of us have read a bestseller or two and wondered, "How did this thing get published?" Nevertheless, I would argue that most work does not get published unless it demonstrates a certain level of technical competence. The grammar is correct. The prose is readable. I would further argue that most manuscripts are rejected because the writing is not technically competent. The manuscript never stands a chance because the writer simply doesn't know the craft of writing well enough. If you write well, you have already set yourself apart from 99% of what agents and editors see every day. Below are some notes on what I call "sentence level competence" — the ability to craft prose at the most basic level. These tips reflect the most common problems I've observed in unpublished manuscripts.

Sentence-Level Competence

Sentence focus — the subjects of all clauses should be appropriate to the content of the sentence.

Favor the concrete over the abstract, the antecedent over the pronoun.

Example: It was a sunny day. (the subject "it" is boring and vague.)

Better: The sky was brilliant blue. (Here the subject is sky, which is what the sentence was supposed to be about.)

If you are writing a sentence about a guy named Fred, the subject in the sentence should be (surprise!) Fred.

Exercise

Go through a page of prose and underline your own subjects.

How many are abstract?

How many of your sentences are truly focused?

Modifiers

Be sure the modifier refers to the right thing.

The modifier should refer to the closest noun.

Confusing modifiers will trip up the reader, consciously or subconsciously.

By the same token, pronouns should have clear antecedents.

Always place the modifier as close to the subject as possible.

Example: Can you help other writers who are writing books like me? (I got this question recently. I understand what the person is saying, but 'like me' follows the word 'books' so he is implying, without meaning to, that there are people producing books that look like him.)

Better: Can you help other writers like me who are writing books?

Exercise

Color-code a page of your manuscript, making each phrase and clause a different color.

Match up dependent clauses and phrases with their modifiers.

Avoid getting your modifier too far away from the thing being modified.

Deft Description

Choose your details carefully.

A description should be vivid, but surgically precise.

The detail must be given for a reason, and have a logical connection to the plot or advancement of character.

Avoid long "grocery lists" of details.

For a paragraph-length description, offer a uniting theme — an extended metaphor — to give the details cohesion.

Example: He was six feet tall, three hundred pounds, with brown hair, small brown eyes, a big nose and big fists. He wore jeans and a muscle shirt. He looked angry. (this is way too much description for the reader to keep track of, and it is offered as a random list)

Better: He looked like a rhino, ready to charge. (then you can pick a few details that reinforce the image of a rhino)

Exercise

Go through a chapter and delete all adjectives and adverbs.

Read through, then add some back in sparingly.

You may find you can do with less than before.

Parallelism

Clauses or phrases that are part of a list should be similar in structure.

Unparallel constructions are awkward and difficult to read, even if the reader can't put her finger on the exact problem.

Example: He likes dogs, hiking in the woods and reads books a lot. (Dogs is a single noun, hiking in the woods is a participial phrase, reads books a lot is a simple predicate. These are all totally different things. Make them the same, and the sentence will flow much better.)

Better: He likes walking his dog, hiking in the woods, and reading lots of books.

Exercise

Try constructing your descriptions in parallel units — absolutes, infinitives, adjectives.

Source

So excited to see more upcoming yak comics 😮‍💨!!

Dysphoric trans girls who put a ton of effort into their presentation and non dysphoric trans girls who just exist in whatever style they already were. Both are equally valid n deserve love and respect. Neither is gross nor the "wrong" way to be a woman.

Trans girls who are dysphoric but unable to present how they want? Due to safety or sensory or health problems? Due to any reason? Super valid and deserving respect and also I'm sorry girl I wish you strength in that.

Trans girls who aren't dysphoric but feel pressured to conform to gender roles and put too much effort into their appearance just so they're accepted or respected? I'm so sorry girl you deserve better. You're super valid and you're enough of a woman already as is

Не бесите его он и так бешеный

Best of Lohengrin O's opera clip titles

Harper Goff “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” "lighting and mood" concept paintings (1954) Source

The Green Knight

Shot in the dark, but I have this problem with Google where it keeps wanting to show these information panels when you search my name and getting the completely wrong person. I think Google doesn't have a trustworthy "about" page it can pull info from, so it just guesses a random person with a similar name?

First it was a biologist:

Then a congressman from Argentina:

And now it's a singer?

I've tried giving feedback, claiming the knowledge panel, and nothing seems to work, they just switch to a new identity... I've tried linking them to my own about page and socials but they don't take any information from there either. I guess they need some kind of external "authoritative source" for something like this?

So I'm thinking the only viable solution might be to have a Wikipedia article with a name, photo and basic info so that Google stops making me steal people's identities? I don't think this is fun to any of the people with similar names to me with their own careers who keep getting their search pages invaded by my links... It's getting pretty frustrating.

Does anyone here have any experience with editing Wikipedia and can help me through this? Thank you! (if you can help me, shoot me a DM or message on Discord @ Valdevia)

dogfight