Image

Archive for writing

Once Upon a Time


I’ve been collaborating with a wonderful woman called Mary Alice Arthur, whose work focuses on the power of Storytelling. She calls herself a Story Activist, and in one of the online courses we co-host she invited everyone to write a fairy tale about their lives.

It was too good an opportunity to miss – I’ve always loved fairy tales – so I decided to try. I thought I didn’t have time, but found I could snatch a few minutes here and there – mostly before getting up in the morning or at night after going to bed – and was delighted to find that I COULD write something I liked, even with very little time dedicated to it.

Here’s what I came up with:

Read More →

Musings on the Writing Life

My email in-box is completely over-flowing with “stuff”, but one of the missives I cherish (and always read) is called “Daily Good: News that Inspires”, sent out by the visionary Niphun Meta and a team of all-volunteer angels. Sometimes what they come up with is just too good not to share!

Here one from Parker Palmer musing on the Writing Life.

 

Aspen Medicine, Taos

I have a backlog of Beauty Dialogue posts to write, but this morning I woke up in Taos to find the world covered in snow and suddenly there is only one (click to see her larger)…

Aspen-in-snow

The Art of Words

Pay Attention to Your
Language

Keep your primary keywords in mind and use them
artfully and often. Turn on your SpellChecker and check your copy before
you publish. Be personal, specific and cultivate your own style. Avoid
jargon unless it is vital to your meaning; remember who your audience
is. Vary your adjectives and listen to the beat of your words. Read them
out loud and change anything that makes you stumble. Keep it short.
Respect your sources and link, link, link.

There are plenty more guidelines to help you write copy for the Internet (including some I’ve written –
see my resource links in Beauty Online), but to me this subject really gets
interesting when you consciously use language to reinforce your values
and reflect the integrity of what you want to say.

If you want to promote peace, for example, lay down the violent
metaphors. To reinforce a connection with the natural world, plant words
that evoke the senses and sing the beauty of nature; avoid mechanistic
terms and abstractions.

When you want to promote interaction, ask questions and leave space for
reflection; cultivate listening. When your desire is to develop
connection and trust, always assume the best and consciously soften any
aggression that sneaks into your speech. Listen more than you write.
Love the ones you’re with.

Own your words. They’re yours, right there in print. Make sure they
reflect what you mean to say. Words have power and they can have grace;
let the ones you use carry both.