12 Aug 10 How Much Detail is Enough, And When It Becomes Boring?

In the last blog post we talked about why it is important to include details in a story or an article. We all seemed to agree that it is in details that real thrill and excitement of a story lies, and it is very, very important for a writer to include details in his or her writing pieces. But in the same article we could see a caveat against including too much detail, for it renders the article or story unreadable.

A write should only include details that take the story forward or which add to the understanding of the story. Rest of the things should not be included. Do not add even a single extra word that does not add to the development of your story or article.

Howe much details

Imagine you are driving a car through the country. What do you see? Do you see entire countryside, or just the thinks visible from the driver’s seat?

Do not force your audience to look sideways, walk behind, and go round and round, just to see every aspect. Your audience does not wish to see every aspect of a situation. She only wants to see what naturally will be visible from where he is standing in the context of story (driver’s seat).

When adding details to a story do not go on writing anything and everything about the subject that comes to your mind or everything that you know, just write what is relevant, and what you see from where you are. Put your blinkers on. The detail that does not add to the progress of story is not worth including.

Avoid adjective shorthand

How many stories, memoirs, articles, or novels have you read that contains adjectives like amazing, wonderful, or spectacular, etc.?

These are useless word that does not say anything. Write “you will not believe how amazingly wow that birthday party was,” and guess what, they will not believe it. Describe the situation, but do not use adverbs or adjectives that are empty of any meaning.

No cliché or dead metaphor please

It holds true for cliché as well. Cliché is called cliché because it is cliché, and people have moved away from it. A phrase or word becomes cliché when there is no emotional juice left in the phrase. Similarly, you should also stay clear of dead metaphors. I would recommend creating your own metaphors — metaphors that say something.

The golden rule here is to not include any dead metaphor, cliché, and unnecessary adjectives and adverbs in your writing. Instead of taking these shortcuts, try to describe the situation or thing in a bit detail for audience to make sense of it, or to get amazed, scared, or astonished. At the same time do not add too many details. It gets boring, after a while.

Tags: Adjective, Adjectives, Adverbs, Audience, Birthday Party, Blinkers, Caveat, Countryside, Dead Metaphor, Driving A Car, Excitement, Guess, Imagine, Memoirs, Novels, Shorthand, Wow

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11 Aug 10 Why Should You Develop a Habit of Adding Details to Your Written Works?

Romeo saw Juliet for the first time and he fell for her. He now wanted to marry her, but their families’ animosity didn’t let them meet, and at the end they died, followed which both their families reconciled.

Was this narration of Romeo and Juliet interesting? Was it even one millionth of excitement that you got from reading the famous tragedy?

Why didn’t you enjoy it? It had all the key elements that were present in the original play. It told you everything that Shakespeare wanted to tell you then why didn’t you enjoy?

Because it lacked the details, isn’t it?

People like stories not because it connects with them at the level deeper than mere comprehension and consciousness, and details do exactly that. It provides fuel to emotion. Greatness of a story lies in detail. When writing a story, or an article, a feeble writer tends to wander around the subject matter using useless adjectives, dead cliché, etc. But when a great writer writes a story, he goes directly to the heart of the matter, and covers all he sees in his journey to the heart of the matter.

Photograph in outlines

If story is a photograph, details are color, texture, shades, and patterns, without which the photograph is nothing but mere outlines. And I am sure not many people enjoy outlines. A great picture is made when colors, shades, textures, patterns, and other things are added to the outline. Similarly, a great story comes to life when required detail is added.

What about articles?

An Article is a non-fiction cousin of story. It just differs in the subject matter it handles, people who are reading it, and slightly in the writing style.

There is no reason why a non-fictional piece could not be written in story form. After all, the goal of a communication is to connect and inform, and you cannot inform anyone, not with any credibility, without establishing a deep connection with he or she.

Tags: Adjectives, Animosity, Color Texture, Comprehension, Consciousness, Credibility, Fictional Piece, Greatness, Heart Of The Matter, Journey To The Heart, Millionth, Narration, Non Fiction, Outlines, Photograph, Romeo And Juliet, Romeo Juliet, Shades, Subject Matter, Writing Style

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15 Apr 10 Best-Kept Secret Twitter Tips for Job Search (Part 7)

So far in the series on twitter job search, we have covered branding and networking, now it is time to talk about etiquette. Etiquette plays a major role when it comes to getting a job, through twitter or otherwise. It would be in your best interest to mind your manners, as no one likes a person who cannot behave nicely in the perceived shadow of anonymity that twitter or any other website provides.

Use direct message or DM, as it is known on twitter

Do not start sending confidential or sensitive information on the twitter’s public timeline using @ symbol. This is akin to taking someone’s bedroom talk to nearest pub. No one is going to like it, and you by doing so are risking your reputation. Instead, send sensitive or personal information in a direct message. Send your résumé link, interview request, etc., in DM only.

Hit Reply

Many a time job seekers do not pay much attention to DMs sent to them, or to the messages sent to them using @ symbol. Always, always, always respond to all direct and indirect messages sent to you. This will paint a picture of a guy who is helpful, friendly, and prompt. These are the traits of an employee that anyone will like to hire.

Count your words before you write

Twitter allows you only 140 characters that also include spaces and special characters, so be wise in the word selection. 140 characters are all you have, and it is on you to decide how you will make each character add to the value your tweet will deliver. Do not use unnecessary superlatives, adjectives, and adverts. I will rather suggest you to stay away from every word that has nothing to add to the discussion.

Go and check your tweets, and DMs to see if your tweets and DMs meet the standard set above or not. Fix them, if they don’t, and continue using twitter the way you do, if you do not find any problem.

Tags: Adjectives, Anonymity, Best Interest, Getting A Job, Interview Request, Job Search, Job Seekers, Manners, Many A Time, Public Timeline, Reply, Reputation, Superlatives, Time Job, Tweet, Tweets, Twitter, Word Selection

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