Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Thank you, Constance Hale

This week at work, I was assigned a new article for the Towson alumni magazine. The publication has a pretty big distribution -- about 100,000 -- and writing for an audience that broad ain't easy. I really have to be on my game when I write these pieces.

But this week I wasn't on my game. At all.

My subject was interesting -- a former undercover agent with the FBI who had tons of great cloak-and-dagger stories. It had the potential to be a great article. But I just couldn't pull it together. It wasn't terrible. It also wasn't great. Tepid would be an apt description.

So, channeling Sin and Syntax I tore into that sucker and underlined every place I found some form of the snore-inducing "to be."  Then I replaced as many of them as I could with more engaging words.

It worked really well. Now my article's loaded with the action befitting an undercover agent. And I don't have to switch careers. (So, bonus.)

Just something to keep in mind the next time you hit a writing roadblock.

1 comment:

  1. This post is so inspiring Dan. I can't tell you how many times I hit a roadblock in my writing and had to refer to my trusty Sin & Syntax. I would love to read your piece. Grace your blog with its presence...post your article!

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