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[header_box_1 title=”the yeah write 2012 summer writer’s series, part 6″]

Week Six: organizing a compelling post structure

Please welcome back guest editor Deb Williams who tweets as @mannahattamamma and blogs at MannaHatta Mamma. If you have any questions or need any clarification on today’s topic, please feel free to begin a discussion in comments.

If you’re here just to hang out, the yeah write #69 hangout grid opens Tuesday.

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Beginnings. Also, middles and ends

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  • Throughout history, man has questioned the nature of his existence.
  • Shakespeare once said, “to thine own self be true,” and I think this is very good advice.
  • It was a warm day a long time ago.

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Did any of those sentences make you want to read further?

I didn’t think so.

But the students who wrote these sentences thought that’s how they should begin their essays. They thought they should offer a general statement instead of getting to the heart of things right away.

Where to start a piece of writing is a tough question, and the only question harder is where to end a piece of writing.  But before I say any more, let’s clarify something: writing well is hard. Yes, we’ve all been “writing” since we scrawled on the walls with crayons, but this blogging stuff? It’s tough. You’ve got to be concise, sharp, punchy, specific. Anyone who says that’s easy is probably lying.

Open with a hook

To begin: Ask yourself how you can put us in the action; how can you grab us, bring us you’re your piece? “So I was pumping gas the other day when Brad Pitt pulled up next to me and asked for directions….” I’m with you already. I don’t need to know where the gas station is, who was in the car, where you were going or what you were doing, unless Brad decided to join you on the journey.

Keep in mind, however, that “action” doesn’t have to mean movie star encounters or some other form of drama.  Action can be “I read Kim Kardashian’s autobiography the other day and realized that reality TV is how god has decided to punish the world.”

Okay, so you’ve got a hook. Kim Kardashian as a latter-day plague.  Great. I’m with you.

Then what? After you’ve established your opening, think about what readers need to go forward. Parcel out your details carefully, my friends.  Words are like money: get as much as you can from every syllable, keep in mind the “so what.

It’s drafty in here, and that’s a good thing

Let me say, however, that I believe in drafts. I write an overblown first draft (and frequently second, third, fourth), then carve it down to what I want to say.  The answers to “so what” emerge as I work; they’re not there in draft one.

Eventually, though, no matter how long you stall, you’re going to have to grapple with the ending.  Sometimes we get lucky—sometimes the closing sentence already exists in our heads and so we just have to write our way to that place.

Sometimes.

Don’t hold your breath.

It’s about as rare as Brad Pitt asking you for directions.

Connect the end to the beginning

Think about how to connect the ending to the beginning, not in a way that creates a closed circle but a spiral: we’ve moved from where we began, but haven’t lost sight of the starting point.

This wickedly funny essay from Arnebya of What Now and Why demonstrates what I’m talking about. The beginning of the piece starts with wanting to eat at Chipotle and ends with never wanting to eat again. The middle shows you, in excruciating detail, how she arrived at that final statement.

So to conclude: On a warm day a while back, a woman questioned her existence (and the nature of Chipotle), was true to herself (and her experience), and wrote a kick-ass essay in which the beginning pulls us in, the middle shows rather than tells, and the ending connects to the beginning.

Looks easy, right?  I don’t know how long it took Arnebya to write her essay, but writing what you’re reading right now has taken me all day.

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  • Click in the upper right corner of this page on the plus symbol and the hidden widget containing the button badge codes will drop
  • Copy the code of your favorite badge, then paste that code into the HTML view of the post you’re planning to submit to the grid
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[header_box_1 title=”yeah write #69 writing prompts”]

all your story are belong to you

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  • Read the summer FAQ page for other details: the grid is being moderated and if you’re missing an element outlined in the summer FAQ, your post will not be published on the grid
  • Let the prompt lead you, but do not include the prompt in any way in your post, not at the beginning as an intro, not at the end as a footnote. If you reference the prompt in your post, your post will not be published on the grid
  • Remember: no more than 500 words. If your post exceeds 500 words, yup, you guessed it—no publish for you
  • If the prompt takes you from thunderstorms to watching TV at your grandma’s house to how much you love Pat Sajak to the oldest person you’ve ever kissed, we want that story the furthest away in your imagination from the original prompt. Let your imagination loose
  • Keep your writing style! Do you tell stories with humor? Prose? Verse? Photos? Illustrations? Keep doing that. We’ll read Shakespearean drama on our own time
  • Cut away at everything unnecessary to your story
  • Don’t forget to badge your post
  • The grid now opens on Tuesdays

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[divider_header_h3] This week’s prompts [courtesy of Tom Slatin] [/divider_header_h3]

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  • Describe an odd or unusual writing habit or ritual you have
  • Name something you’ve given away that can never be replaced
  • Do you have any irrational fears?

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Draft, draft, edit, toss, draft, edit, rework, refine, step away, come back, read aloud, edit, refine: the yeah write #69 summer challenge and hangout grids open Tuesday.

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