Former book editor, magazine reporter, new media editor-in-chief, amateur painter, cat.
Speaking of which, I'm also a person who makes a living by writing. He has worked as a magazine reporter, a literary magazine editor, and a new media editor-in-chief, helped some people publish their first stories, planned books, and written books in behind-the-scenes roles. Here is a combination of some experience and thinking on helping others review and revise articles over the past many years, and share a little advice.
Let's start with the important nonsense: be brave.
Writing is a self-investment with a high rate of return, there is no threshold, you can start writing, and you can benefit for life. There is a sentence in Feng Tang's "It is not easy to be blown apart by the wind in the universe": don't be in a hurry, don't be afraid, don't have a face. In fact, writing also needs such a mentality.
Writing is everywhere, not mysterious at all. Writing a short video script for yourself, writing a product plan for your boss, writing a special birthday wish to your friends, and even writing a list of problems that hit the nails when complaining about unscrupulous businesses are all invisibly training your writing ability. For example, I know that there are so many high praise answers, including stories, essays, professional analysis, copywriting and other styles, which appear in the form of answers, which are all intuitive presentations of profound writing skills. Let go of fear, practice diligently, and time will give you the answer.
First of all, let's follow the writing steps to see how to write an article.
1. Topic selection.
What to write? Many people are stuck in this level and have no way to write. There are several entry points to try.
1. Write about your own experiences and feelings.
2. Write about the experiences of friends around you.
3. Write your thoughts on some hot topics.
4, write about something, a person, a picture to touch you and trigger the association, imagination. You can even write about your dreams.
In short, start with familiarity and interest.
The above screenshot is from the public account of "Sanlian Life Weekly".
I really don't know what to write, you can go to see some media column call for papers, generally will list a detailed topic range, the desired style, and even the word count, they are good practice questions.
Second, the kernel and framework.
What kind of story do you really want to tell? Comedy or tragedy? Who is the protagonist of the story? What was done? What is the ending? Simply put, there is a central idea, there is a clear synopsis, just like movies and novels have a content introduction. For example, there are two protagonists in the novel "1Q84", one is a female Qingdou who is quiet and cold on the outside, extremely rich in heart, and extremely rich in experience, and there is an ordinary social animal Tianwu, who has entangled and slowly becomes associated with the third character, the mysterious killer Niu He, and unfolds a story full of suspense and magic. The protagonist of the American drama "Hannibal" is a man-eating devil hidden under a decent identity and elegant appearance, revealing the complexity and mystery of human nature through a suspenseful story. The protagonist of the movie "Loyal Dog Hachiko" is a dog who has spent his life waiting for his owner to return home, and around this action of "waiting", the warm past between people and dogs is unfolded. Another example is the movie "A Dog's Mission", the protagonist is also a dog, the core plot is that its life cycle is several times, each time returning to the first owner.
3. Logic and plot.
What is the purpose of the protagonist's thoughts and actions in your story? What kind of personality, experience, and hobbies drive their actions? The behavior of the character must be logical and in line with the characteristics of the character. The process of combing the logic is also the process of combing the framework of the article, which is a process that requires repeated thinking and polishing.
In fact, if you write more, you will find that writing an article does not matter the absolute standard and template, you can first have a synopsis and then write the details, you can also think of a detail first, and then take it as an entry point to come up with a synopsis and framework. Just like painting, you can draw one stroke at a time in the way you first draft the structure, or you can start with your hair or eyes and nose. It's just that the latter is often a more suitable approach for veteran players.
My experience is that if the subject of writing is familiar to me, then I will first build a framework and then write to fill in the bricks; if I am not familiar with it, then I just identify the clues, ideas, and contexts first, and make up for it while writing, and sometimes tear down and rewrite. But be careful not to deviate from the core of the story and write loosely.
From the perspective of readability, see how to write the story well. Or rather, what needs to be done to continue to hone your writing.
Get into the habit of collecting material and recording inspiration at any time. Be patient. I am used to writing down the fragments of text that pop up in my head at any time in my mobile phone memo, some of which are a beginning, some of which are a plot, and some of which are a feeling. Save it as a library of inspiration. Specific to an article, you may need to collect footage to validate an idea, an idea, or verify a piece of data, etc., which requires ad hoc search. When I was a journalist, almost every article of three or four thousand words required tens of thousands of words of material to base, sometimes even more.
Lots of reading + deep thinking. Those who want to continue to improve their writing must be broad-eyed, at least broadly involved in the subject matter that interests you. For example, if you like to write a cross-over story, you must have a reserve of historical knowledge, not necessarily fine, but you must be proficient, at least when you need relevant knowledge, you must know where to find.
Imitation is the fastest way to learn. Refer more to the genre and theme related articles you are currently writing, and look at it with thinking to imitate. Start by asking yourself what do you like about these articles, the titles? style? Various god reversals? Summarize the points you like and focus on and learn as a model. Instead of suggesting plagiarism, you can imitate the structure of the article, the way and angle of the questions are asked, and the points of view expressed. Wait a minute. Slowly incorporate the commonalities you have summarized into your writing.
Cultivate a sense of language. That is, polishing words and phrases to form your own style. Just like everyone talking about "Lu Xun body", "Chongqing Forest" body, "Murakami Spring Tree Body" can instantly think of a unique sense of atmosphere and rhythm and picture, and then for example, Many people like Wang Zengqi, the text is very simple, but the words are pearlescent, vivid and lovely.
As for whether you use metaphor or contrast in your article, realistic or exaggerated, there is no unique or universal expression, only the expression that suits you best. There is no need to re-read the language book to learn grammar, read more articles, speculate more, read more, imitate more, you can find the sense of language.
Finally, it is recommended that you can accelerate your improvement through professional writing classes. I have taken many writing classes, including but not limited to new media writing, picture book writing, science fiction story writing, and feature writing, in order to understand the first-hand experience of excellent creators, inspire themselves to find a better path, and indeed benefit a lot.
Today's writing has changed. Writing is no longer just the work of full-time writers, poets, screenwriters, and journalists, but has become one of the ways for more and more ordinary people to build personal brands and even monetize their side businesses. A lot of writing is more functional and interactive.
I hope you find your own writing path and realize your dreams.
Welcome to tip cat food and dried fish.
PS: Welcome to my Zhihu number, ID: Angel's Fish
https://www.zhihu.com/people/binbinhebe