Painting pictures with words

I am no expert when it comes to writing but I put some thoughts down on the spur of the moment for a friend. Thought I’ll share it!

People are sometimes gifted with good language skills (grammar, spelling, vocabulary and punctuation). This is difficult to master for most as we end up not paying attention to detail and tend to focus more on the content rather than the context of what is being said.

As for the writing skills (in terms of composition only) - one significant issue is that of emotion and feeling. You have to make the reader feel what you feel. This is easier to do when it comes to prose. Don't think that hiding your feelings is a smart thing to do. You might say that you write something not for the readers' pleasure but for your writing pleasure alone. Hear this - a feeling is most often momentary; meaning when you read what you have written at a later time, that piece of work should have the power of bringing back exactly what you felt like, when you were writing it.

A few writing tips

• The appropriate use of adjectives is very important. It's like the salt in a curry… too little or too much can ruin the entire dish.
• You have also to strike a balance between mixing long and short sentences. They add colour and variation.
• Some people have the habit of writing drafts and revising many times before publishing. I don't know how effective this practice is. For me I feel that if something doesn't come right the first time, it won't come right at all.
• When you write you must also play with the senses and the sensory memory. Use smell, touch and taste to describe places people etc. eg: He slowly opened his eyes while sensing that bad hospital odor that he always disliked.
• Too much and redundant detail should be avoided. Stephen king often puts me to sleep when he describes every detail of a room or a woman's dress. As I said before, the right amount of description is what matters rather than glamorous and heavy words.
• Your opening sentence must always be a blast. You either lose or keep your reader here. eg: She screamed!
• Most importantly (depending on the subject) you need to either express or not express feeling and emotion.
• Avoid vague ideas: don't have the reader thinking what the hell is he talking abt?
• Finally keep it simple: Mahathir Mohamed may be a great thinker but when it comes to wording his thoughts he sure can reach into your heart by just being simple!