powerful ways to hone your writing so it has the razor’s edge Hem-
ingway wanted.
Here goes.CUT OFF THEIR HEADS
Look at your writing and examine the first few paragraphs. Can
you delete them? Will the article still stand if you dump the first
and second paragraphs?
If you’re writing a book, look at the first chapter. Can you drop
it? Can the book stand without it?
Bruce Barton, author of the 1925 bestseller The Man Nobody
Knows, once said writers start writing something before they start
saying something.
In a short article, those first few paragraphs are suspect. Con-
sider deleting them. In a longer work, like a book, that first chapter
can probably be deleted. Why? As Barton suggested, those early
lines are “warm-ups.” You probably don’t really need them.
As a book reviewer I used to see a lot of self-published books.
These writers almost always could have deleted their first chap-
ters. They were just too much in love with their own words to cut
them out.
As a magazine journalist, I have worked hard to create opening
paragraphs that were “grabbers.” Yet all too often the editors
deleted my lead. Nobody ever complained!
Look at your opening paragraphs. Can you drop them? I am not
saying you must slice them out. I am suggesting you examine that
area, as it is a place where you can trim your writing.CUT OFF THEIR FEET
By the same token, look at the endings of your writings.
In an article, look at the last couple of paragraphs. Do you really
need them?
In a book, look at the last chapter. Can you throw it out and still
have a solid book?
Probably. Again, this area is often weak. Don’t automatically
delete your endings, but dolook at them with a critical eye.HYPNOTIC WRITING