At WriteDirections.com, I recently posted the article “The Keys to Writing Great Emails” in which I give 12 tips for doing just that. Here are three of them:

Become a poet
Some define poetry as the best possible usage of the least possible words. Think then of your emails as poems. Don’t be dramatic or flowery, of course, but do use simple, easy-to-understand language; the fewer the syllables, the better.

To give your words the power they deserve, write in the active voice. For example: “Your order will be handled by Mr. Jones,” is passive. “Mr. Jones will handle your order,” is active. Another benefit of writing in the active voice is that active sentences tend to be shorter. Note how the active-voice sentence has six words, while the passive-voice sentence has eight.

Keep it to yourself
Sorry, but as great a writer as you are, not everyone is clamoring for your work. Therefore, resist the temptation to cc every life form on the planet. Your emails should be sent on an as-needed basis. Ditto for bcc’s.

Be circumspect
Each day we hear of private emails being made public, inadvertently or maliciously. To protect yoursel, as well as others, don’t put into writing anything you wouldn’t want circulated. 

(Note: sometimes you have to or want to include personal information in your emails, most especially when writing to a relative a friend. The key, I think, is to segregate personal and professional info by using separate accounts for each. Doing so doesn’t offer complete protection — we’re talking about the Internet here — but it can help.)

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I found this list while cleaning out my files. Interesting how opposing words and concepts make sense when grouped together, even when they don’t make sense. (Does that make sense?)

• Act naturally
• Found missing
• Resident alien
• Advanced BASIC
• Genuine imitation
• Good grief
• Same difference
• Almost exactly
• Alone together
• Silent scream
• Living dead
• Small crowd
• Soft rock
• Butt Head
• New classic
• Sweet sorrow
• Childproof
• Synthetic natural gas
• Taped live
• Clearly misunderstood
• Peace force
• Extinct Life
• Plastic glasses
• Definite maybe
• Pretty ugly
• Twelve-ounce pound cake
• Diet ice cream
• Exact estimate

And, of course:

• Government organization

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A year from now you may wish you had started today.
—Karen Lamb

How many more weeks, months, or years will you put off that writing project? And why the delay? Tomorrow doesn’t have anything that today doesn’t offer.  

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I consider myself a nonfiction writer — at least that’s how I’ve always made my living. Now that I am writing a novel, I am being forced to redefine myself. This is a good thing. Theoretically. In reality, it’s uncomfortable. I feel that I’ve regressed. I’m not sure what I am doing.

My novel requires that I make up facts rather than work with existing ones. Instead of leads and sidebars, I’ve got to think in terms of structure and plot, symbolism and setting. This requires retooling and professional help. Retooling takes time. Getting professional help is immediate, thanks to some great writing books. 

I’ll share various titles with you over time, but let me start with Nancy Kress’s Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint: Techniques and exercises for crafting dynamic characters and effective viewpoints (Writer’s Digest Books, 2005).

As you’d expect, the book is about how to create the believable and interesting characters upon whose shoulders a novel rests. The process is fun but way more complicated than I anticipated.

Characters are more than names, faces and personality quirks, of course, and even when you nail down their characteristics, you’ve still got to deal with viewpoint (first, third, fourth, omniscient). And then you have to deal with a character’s back story, and then with his or her physical characteristics, and then with his or her personal development over time, and then with … 

Kress helped me get a handle on these things. (BTW: to handle is not to master.) I now have a better understanding of who my characters should/must be, and a better understanding of my role in bringing them to life.

Also by Kress:

Dynamic Characters: How to create personalities that keep readers captivated (Writer’s Digest Books, 2004)

Beginnings, Middles and Ends (Writer’s Digest Books, 1999) (Perfect for someone like me who is grappling with beginnings, muddles and how-should-I-end?) 

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I’m a huge proponent of self-publishing for many reasons. Here, perhaps, is the most important:

You have something to say and don’t feel like keeping it to yourself.

Call it stubbornness or drive, but you don’t want someone else to determine whether or not you speak, let alone when and to whom.

Experts and speakers know this all too well, which is why many of them take the self-publishing route. It allows them to communicate and market simultaneously, not to mention make a substantial profit.

But you don’t have to be a speaker or expert, or even to make a profit, to make self-publishing worthwhile. This is especially true if you are writing for a mere handful of readers — friends, family and acquaintances.

Thanks to self-publishing you can pass along family histories, favorite recipes, observations of everyday life … the list goes on. None of these subjects would make for mass market reading; their appeal is simply too limited. But that doesn’t mean any or all wouldn’t find an interested, even grateful audience.

So be a rebel. Write what you want, be who you are. Don’t let anyone tell you no when you have the ability to say yes, and to hold in your hands what you’ve always dreamed of: your published book.

Other WriteDirections articles on this subject:

“5 Reasons Why You Should Self-publish” 
http://www.writedirections.com/art_5reasons.html

“Ready to Self-publish? Follow These Guidelines: 
http://www.writedirections.com/art_selfpublish.html

“4 Great Self-publishing Tips”
http://www.writedirections.com/art_4great.html

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