Editing Without Pain: 'Search and Destroy' to Fix Your Drafts (The Elements of Writing Book 11) by Euchner Charles

Author:Euchner, Charles
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2012-09-10T00:00:00+00:00

3.

Fix Problem Paragraphs With Tabloid Headlines

I especially love tabloids. I suppose that's like the butcher confessing that his favorite food is fish. In a world that has become a little finicky and refined for my taste, a good tabloid isn't. It stands up on its hind legs and shouts "Get a load of this!" A good tabloid is fast and mean and cheap and low and vivid and street-smart. It plays dismemberments and mob hits big. It is also easy to read.

—Anna Quindlen

“Writing, like life,” Henry Miller once said, “is a voyage of discovery.” In that voyage, we often get tempted to wander off the path.

You begin writing a paragraph with one idea in mind. That reminds you of another idea. That reminds you of yet another idea. And so on. Before you know it, you have veered far from the first idea—without offering adequate evidence for it. You might not even remember where you intended to go. And if you don’t remember your destination, how can the reader?

How should we deal with unruly paragraphs? The solution is simple. Just label every idea in every paragraph. Come up with a short label—three to five words—that describes the idea. When a paragraph contains more than one idea, break it up into as many paragraphs as ideas.

Write your labels like tabloid headlines. At their best, tabloid headlines capture the essence of the story. They also give stories sizzle and intrigue. Take a look at these three tabloid headlines. The first reports President Gerald Ford’s rejection of federal loans to New York City during the 1975 fiscal crisis. The second reports a decapitation at a nightclub. The third reports Hillary Clinton’s endorsement of Barack Obama for president.

Labeling paragraphs always works. When I put pithy tags on paragraphs, I can quickly grasp all the ideas in a piece. When I repeat myself, I see it. When something doesn’t fit, I cut it. When something is missing, I add it.

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