Careful: Pompous Phrases Can Set an Arrogant Tone Does your writing come across as arrogant? Take a moment to ask this question! With the spoken word, you have the privilege of adding voice intonation, hand gestures, and emotion with your vocal cords. That doesn’t happen as easily in writing. You might leave readers guessing about your intended meaning and risk setting a tone that can be misconstrued. To avoid confusion, drop the following idioms and phrases from your writing altogether. Not only will you convey your thoughts more directly, but your writing will gain clarity.

Do These Written Phrases Suggest an Arrogant Tone?
 

• Not to mention . . . (then why mention it at all?)

• It goes without saying . . . (then why say it?)

• If I may say so . . . (it’s your writing; of course you may say so)

• I believe that . . . (it’s your writing; of course you believe it)

• In my humble opinion . . . (what makes it humble, anyway?)

• To tell the truth . . . (you mean you weren’t telling the truth?)

• To be honest with you . . . (you weren’t being honest before?)

• For the record . . . (are we in court?)

• Let me be perfectly clear . . . (followed by bafflegab)

• This may sound stupid but . . . (it already sounds stupid)

• With all due respect . . . (prefacing a negative comment this way doesn’t change it)

One More: “In Other Words”

Another oh-too-common phrase to question is “in other words.” Why? Because it often introduces a clarifying sentence that follows a mediocre one. Instead of adding a sentence, go back and strengthen the first sentence. Then you might not even need a follow-up clarifying one. Test this idea in your own writing.

Your Ultimate Goal

Ultimately, you strive for clear, intentional expressions of your thoughts and beliefs in everything you write. Don’t let phrases such as these get in the way!

 

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As a writer, you probably love art, and these terms might be a helpful form of expression:
 
Abstract — Works of art that do not favor nature or any external reality.
Abstract Expressionism — An expressive art of profound emotion and universal themes displayed through action painting or movement. Developed during the 1940’s and 1950’s in America.
Academic — Relating to education and scholarship.
Aesthetic — The underlying beauty or good qualities of an object.
Allover Painting — Covering the canvas from edge to edge or corner to corner with equal measure.
Appropriation — Copying, borrowing or altering what already exists; usually images or objects in visual arts.
Artifice —  Using tricks or deception.
Baroque — Dramatic, strained, complex, ornamental or extravagant styles used in art or architecture. These were cultivated in Europe during the seventeenth thru the mid eighteenth century.
Batik — A dying technique using wax resin to create patterns and color variations in cloth.
Bauhaus — In 1919, Walter Gropius established a German art and design school merging artistic creativity and manufacturing which had fallen into disrepair during the Industrial Revolution.
Belle Epoque — This period, known as the “beautiful era” in French, began in 1890 and lasted until World
War I in 1914. It heralded in a feeling of optimism, peace and economic prosperity throughout much of Europe. Many masterpieces of literature gained recognition.
 

 
Contests

Ron Hubbard holds contests every three months. The deadline for the fall is October 1^st. Prizes range from $1,000 to $500 with an annual grand prize of $5,000! They request that submissions be only novelettes or short stories in the science fiction genre. For more information, go to http://www.writersofthefuture.com/enter-writer-contest/.
 
Pen/Faulkner Fiction Award. This contest hands down a major prize of $15,000 and the express invite to read at their awards ceremony in our Nation’s capital, Washington, DC. The four other finalists will receive a prize of $5,000 each. Deadlines for this contest are October 31^st. For a complete guide to submitting, please log on to http://www.penfaulkner.org/award-for-fiction/submission-guidelines/.

Writers Digest Poetry Awards allows submissions until October 3^rd. Winners get $1,000 and a 20-minute consultation with the Poet's Editor, Robert Brewer, from Poet’s Market. Poems must be 32 lines or less and can be anything from Haiku to free verse. To submit, visit  http://www.writersdigest.com/writers-digest-competitions/poetry-awards.
 
Self Published eBook Awards is a contest hosted by Writers Digest and is open until September 26^th. Grand Prize is $5,000 and a featured article in Writer’s Digest Magazine along with a fully paid trip to the Writer’s Digest Conference! To submit or find what their requirements are, please log on to http://www.writersdigest.com/writers-digest-competitions/self-published-ebook-awards.
 

Agents


Many Literary Agents call NYC home. A few of them are:

Trident Media Group and Literary Agency is located at 41 Madison Avenue, 36^th Floor, NY, NY 10010. They manage EBooks, in print publishing, movies and entertainment, all foreign rights and audio books for authors within our borders and outside. Email contact information is provided on their website and there is a submission form that each author must complete as query. For more about this agency, please log on to http://www.tridentmediagroup.com/.
 
Ann Rittenberg Literary Agency Inc. is another NYC agency worth checking into. They are located at 15 Maiden Lane, #206, NY, NY 10038. On their website answers page, you can find what they do and do not accept and how to go about submitting. Their website is http://www.rittlit.com/.
 
Ethan Ellenberg Literary Agency, located at 155 Sufolk Street, #2r, NY, NY 10002. They trend toward fiction and non-fiction and are seeking new clients. Submission guidelines are listed on their website and should be followed. You can learn more about them and how to submit from logging on to http://ethanellenberg.com/.
 
Writers House, A Literary Agency website is http://www.writershouse.com/. You can learn about them from their home page Learn More tab. From there you are able to navigate through a number of other tabs that tell you their history and how to submit.

 
Jobs


If you would like to write for a living, think about these opportunities:
 
Indeed.com is a credible place to search for jobs or any sort, but if you simply narrow your search to writing jobs there are a number of credible choices you can make and perhaps land your dream job. Most companies will want a sample work so be prepared to send a good sample of what you can write along with a query letter.
 
In January of 2015, AOL ran an article about freelance writing jobs. The title is Freelance Writing Jobs: 25 Sites That Pay for Guest Posts by Kyle Taylor. The article talks about blogs and online publications that want good writers to submit content for them to publish. You can learn more by reading this article in its entirety at http://www.aol.com/article/2015/01/24/sites-buy-guest-posts/21132908/.
 
Another site that solicits writers for a variety of openings is http://www.itsmycareer.com/. You will be asked for titles of jobs you are interested in and then locations to search for openings. From there you will fill in a short contact information form and submit that for more consideration. The next pop-up asks you for a job category or categories. After that you will fill in your highest level of education and high school graduation year. You will jump through a number of ad hoops and then finally you will be able to view the available jobs in your locale and upload a resume for potential employers to preview.  Good luck!

   

Ecclesiastes 10:10

But wisdom will make any job easier.
It is very hard to cut with a dull knife.
But if you sharpen the knife, the job is easier. (ERV)

Writing is a gift we have been given to share, but it is also one we should use properly. No one can write a perfect work the first time and no one is born with an innate knowledge about the rules of writing. It is through classes, workshops, and reading that we learn those rules. It is the understanding of them that hones our writing. However, with each piece we write, we accept that there will be rewrites and edits.

If we convince ourselves that the work is fine with no need to polish, we risk not being able to share. We may also be pushing away and not absorbing knowledge that will help us grow our gift. Each time we rewrite, each word we cut, we gain a new perspective on our work. Each new insight gives us ideas for other pieces, deeper meanings of the one we are working on, angles we may have never considered and wisdom to see what it can become.

If the ax (our writing ) is dull and one does not sharpen (edit, rewrite) its edge, then one must exert more strength (work harder to sell it, work harder to create it); however the advantage of wisdom is that it brings success (more polished, ready-to-share works).

So, do you have a sharpened ax, oh, writer friend? If not, you need to borrow a whetsone (take some classes, seek some critique). Someone around you will happily help you improve your edge and grow your gift.

Rewrite! Edit! Polish! Your ax is ready and waiting.

Blessings!
 

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A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.
Proverbs 25:10

 

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