Stephen King likes to resonate with readers

If this doesn’t work for freelance magazine writers, novelists, poets, and journalists, I don’t know what does.

Writing quotation: In On Writing Stephen King says, “What I want most is resonance, something that will linger for a little while in Constant Reader’s mind (and heart) after he or she has closed the book and put it up on the shelf.”

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Later in the same paragraph, King says, “I’ll also want to delete stuff that goes in other directions.” (this actually goes in a different direction, and I shouldn't have included it here).

Writing tip: Resonance in my magazine articles means finding something that readers can talk about later, at cocktail parties or on first dates or in the lobby after church. That's one reason I love writing about scientific research – such as the discovery that yawning cools the brain. I want my readers to remember the information I gave them, and talk about it later.

Resonance for you as a writer could be emotional, spiritual, or intellectual. Resonance is the “take-away.” What image, thought, or opinion does the reader hold after reading your stuff?

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And then (and this is the stuff that goes in another direction that I shouldn't have included here -- but it's a "teachable moment") get rid of all the fluff. The more focused you are, the more captivated readers will be. If you're juggling different ideas and scenarios, readers may get confused and distracted. Weed out the extra words.

Whitman's writing quotation about style

Writing quotation: “The secret of it all, is to write in the gush, the throb, the flood, of the moment – to put things down without deliberation – without worrying about their style – without waiting for a fit time or place. I always worked that way. I took the first scrap of paper, the first doorstep, the first desk, and wrote – wrote, wrote…By writing at the instant the very heartbeat of life is caught,” says Walt Whitman.

His great writing quotation is in itself great writing. Note the pace of the sentences, the use of dashes and commas to create a faster and slower tempo. This writing quotation also contains a passive sentence (normally a no-no in most writing advice books). I think it works here.

Writing tip: Don't wait. Just write. Another take-away of this writing inspiration is: forget your writing style. Write it all down; you can edit it later. For now, make it your writing goal to just write. Of course that's easier said than done, especially when you want to tap into or develop your writing style. But you'll achieve your writing goals faster if you forget your writing style and just write for now.

This writing tip is based on Walt Whitman’s writing quotation, found in Quotationary by Leonard Roy Frank.