{"id":1578,"date":"2010-07-18T20:19:19","date_gmt":"2010-07-19T01:19:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lisatener.local\/blog\/?p=1578"},"modified":"2024-09-30T09:00:46","modified_gmt":"2024-09-30T13:00:46","slug":"how-good-writing-is-like-sizzling-passion-lessons-in-foreplay-trust-and-intimacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/2010\/07\/how-good-writing-is-like-sizzling-passion-lessons-in-foreplay-trust-and-intimacy\/","title":{"rendered":"How Good Writing is like Sizzling Passion: Lessons in Foreplay, Trust and Intimacy"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Your book writing coach<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Yesterday, I edited a chapter from one of my students in my Bring Your Book to Life Program<\/strong><\/a>. With her permission I share her mistakes–mistakes that I made when I first started and mistakes many novice authors make.<\/p>\n

Ironically, her book teaches women about sexual intimacy (and how to reignite passion in their marriage) and yet her errors\u2014so common to many new aspiring authors\u2014went against many of her top lessons about foreplay, trust and intimacy.<\/p>\n

Here then are 3 Rules of Good Writing<\/span><\/strong> right out of her <\/span><\/strong>passion toolkit<\/span><\/span> <\/span>:<\/span><\/strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Know Where to Start:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Foreplay is about what will turn your partner on. \u00a0So, what will turn your reader onto what they\u2019re reading<\/strong><\/span>?<\/p>\n

This author began chapter one with a dialogue without any action or description.\u00a0 I needed to meet the author first, or meet the couple who were arguing\u2014at least be able to picture them.<\/p>\n

Think about what your reader needs from you so they will be compelled by the material and committed to reading further. <\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"writing<\/a><\/strong><\/strong>
Take off those sunglasses and establish some real intimacy with your reader. Much as I like this photo (maybe because the glasses hide my wrinkles) I had never used it in a blog post until now--because the sunglasses get in the way of intimacy. They send the wrong message.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

2. <\/strong>Get Intimate with Your Reader:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Good writing is about relationship. As an author, you are developing a relationship with your readers<\/span><\/strong>. Readers, plural, but one at a time. Readers don\u2019t want to think of themselves as a mob. As a reader, I am most seduced by a writer to addresses me as \u201cYou.\u201d<\/p>\n

I often find new writers address their readers as, \u201cMany of you\u2026\u201d as in, \u201cMany of you will see yourself in these stories.\u201d<\/p>\n

I asked my student to imagine saying, “Many of you…” to her husband in bed.<\/p>\n

As a writer, you are establishing a relationship with your reader, an intimate relationship\u2014the more intimate the better.<\/p>\n

Instead of addressing your readers as, \u201cMany of you\u2026\u201d if you are afraid to make an assumption about all readers, just say, \u201cYou may see yourself in these stories\u2026.\u201d Or \u201cIf you see yourself in these stories\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Just say, \u201cYOU.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you think about your reader as a person, rather than a mob, that will come through in your writing\u2014and your reader will feel a stronger connection to you. <\/strong><\/p>\n

3. Trust Your Reader<\/strong>:<\/span><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t do what I just did two sentences ago: Do not capitalize, underline or bold words just to emphasize them. Trust your reader.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

In a blog<\/strong>, for visual purposes, you may want to bold, underline or color certain words. That can help keep the blog post visually interesting.<\/p>\n

However, when writing a book<\/strong>, even a how-to book, you must trust your reader to understand which words to emphasize. \u00a0Occasionally, if it really helps clarify, you can italicize a word, but I\u2019d save that for a definition or something akin to defining a word.<\/p>\n

For a bullet list, such as a list of instructions, you can bold certain phrases that begin a bullet or numbered list. But don\u2019t bold or capitalize a word just to emphasize. Use bold more for a visual effect and to organize the material.<\/p>\n

Now you\u2019re ready for some sizzling<\/strong><\/span>\u2026writing<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday, I edited a chapter from one of my students in my Bring Your Book to Life Program. With her permission I share her mistakes–mistakes that I made when I first started and mistakes many novice authors make. Ironically, her book teaches women about sexual intimacy (and how to reignite passion in their marriage) and…  Read more<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,24,42],"tags":[102,194,195,196],"class_list":{"0":"post-1578","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-more","7":"category-writing","8":"category-writing-secrets","9":"tag-book-writing-courses","10":"tag-good-writing","11":"tag-sizzling-writing","12":"tag-writing-rules","13":"entry"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1578"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1578\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":279378,"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1578\/revisions\/279378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}