Organize Your Thoughts . . . Before You Write

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Georgia Shaffer from Pennsylvania One mistake I repeatedly made early in my writing career, was, as I sat down to write an article, newsletter or a chapter in a book, I neglected to first take the time to organize my thoughts. I ended up wasting lots of time writing and rewriting as I would try figure out where I was really going with my topic. Before you begin to write, focus on how you will organize your ideas by answering the following questions: Who is My Audience? Part of narrowing your focus is defining your audience.  Are you writing for…

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Right There, Right Then: Immediacy

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Peace to you! Maureen Pratt here with my monthly blog about specific aspects of the writing process. Today, I thought I'd highlight some suggestions about immediacy in our writing. Whether we're writing fiction or non-fiction, we want our prose to carry the feel of immediacy, or a sense of time and place that draws the reader in to the exclusion of all other distractions and detractions. Compelling central plots do this to a certain extent, of course, but to carry someone along for the duration of a book requires some hooks-within-the-hooks. Immediacy boosts action to a more lively level, and it helps root scene and character…

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