I know. I should have used SIMPLY, the adverb. But I got your attention, didn't I? And, if I'm lucky, I'll keep it.

What I am hoping I can do is MAKE WRITING SIMPLE for those of you new to the game.

Many of you want to write, but you are lacking the most important ingredient. Oh, you have plenty of talent, desire, and material to write about. But most of you lack TIME to write. And we writers need that. There's never enough.

How do we compensate for that indispensable commodity? By learning to WRITE SIMPLE.

Here's an example. Since I am retired, I have the time to write novels, short stories, and poetry--maybe a bit of each every day. But some days I am unable to write a sentence or even a phrase I don't want to throw away. My muse went on vacation, my brain's in a funk, or I'm flat out not in the mood.

Because I sincerely believe nothing good gets written if I don't try, I make myself write something simple: a haiku. Seventeen syllables. How hard is that? At times it can be impossible!

But I have a formula that usually works (i.e.--gets the juices flowing), and I'm willing to share.

1) Pick a topic you enjoy writing about. For me, it's always Nature.

2) Focus first on color. What do you SEE? Is it the sky? Make me see its color? Blue? How blue? Tap into your memory banks and don't use a Thesaurus until you have to. The word(s) will come if you keep priming the pump. Write one down? Think about it. Delete it. Try another.

3) Focus next on a verb. There has to be ACTION even in something as short as a haiku. Avoid to be verbs. Seek the precise word. A cloud is in that sky. What is it doing? Keep thinking until the right verb emerges.

4) Ultimately your focus on LANGUAGE will lead to creating IMAGES. You want your reader to visualize the scene you are describing as a snap-shot. What I do is start thinking METAPHORICALLY. The sky is like . . . Those clouds are like . . . The whole experience is like . . .
Thinking metaphorically is NOT simple, but can be learned through much practice.

5) The final step is to COMPRESS. You have only 17 syllables. Make every one count! Do you really need those articles a, an, or the? Should that pronoun be a noun? Should that prepositional phrase be compressed into an adjective? Don't repeat your title in your first line.

Write haikus--or 5-7-5s--as an exercise. Doing so hones your editing skills. You will quickly learn how to trim deadwood from your prose and not to over-write. Writing haikus also helps you SET A SCENE in your stories.

Mostly, these exercises will help you abide the first commandment of writing: SHOW, DON'T TELL!