The Quick and Dirty

Your QDT intern here, reporting for a first ever blog post!

(via lethaargic/Flickr)

Today we found out that QDT placed pretty high in a listing of the Top 100 Blogs for Writers. This is really awesome for a lot of reasons.

You may not think of QDT as a writing-centric place (and to be fair, it isn’t our main goal to be one), but many of the life lessons you’ll find at Quick and Dirty Tips can really help aspiring writers improve their style and form, both in word and in life. Here’s how:

• Grammar Girl makes sure we look at the nuance of language and choose the best word, because, like Benjamin Franklin said, “The difference between the right word and the nearly right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning-bug.”
• Get-It-Done Guy gets writer-types organized when all the scribbled plot notes and filled notebooks threaten to topple over, while helping clear out the calendar and making time for reading those books we never get around to. Efficiency means more words per day, and better words, to boot.
• Public Speaker‘s tips not only help writers while speaking at a huge book signing, they can come in handy in the writing process too: being precise and clear is much better than stuffy Hawthorne-esque prose full of run-on sentences that lose you in the middle. She also has a great episode on how to handle criticism, a loathed but essential component of improving a writer’s craft.
• Even the Money section proves applicable by preparing amateur writers to “think savvy” when they decide to go professional. They’ll be able to work alongside agents and publishers without conceding the heart of their writing, and be better equipped to promote their books aggressively to the public.

Happy writing!