Wednesday, April 18, 2012

P = Powerful Writing

What makes writing powerful?

Most powerful writers speak to the reader truthfully in emotional terms. Think of books that have changed your life. Think of authors who are your favorites. It’s likely that the authors you love have accomplished powerful writing.

The Secret of Powerful Writing

  1. Write well
  2. Tell the story
  3. Touch people’s hearts by telling the truth

AA Milne is one of my favourite authors. He gave me (and others) Winnie-the-Pooh. Pooh touches my heart. As powerful as the original Pooh stories, Benjamin Hoff's Tao of Pooh changed my life. I aspire to be more Pooh-ish as I grow.

What authors / stories have been powerful in your life?


13 comments:

Mina Burrows said...

Jane Austen was so powerful for me. For instance, I loved Persuasion. It featured a women who made a mistake and refused her first love's offer at marriage because her family hated him. But then she had a second chance. I love, love, love that story!

fidel said...

Powerful writing is all our hopes...Thanks for dropping by my blog.

Dina Thanki said...

Great advice Kate. I like many authors for their writing styles, so just depends what I'm reading. Saying that, I have struggles in the past with reading books that haven't been paragraphed or spaced out well. But that's just me, I'm not a writer, I draw pictures :) x

Grammy said...

Hi, I would love to write powerfully. Mostly I just write because I must. I love words. I cannot name any favorite books because I have read so many in my lifetime. (79 years old in a month) and have been reading for 73 of them. Almost constantly. Best regards to you. Ruby aka Grammy

jabblog said...

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery is a life lesson. So simple, so true and good in either the original French (Le Petit Prince) or English translation.

Sherry Ellis said...

Good advice. I like Mitch Album. His stories really touch my heart.

MOV said...

great post! my favorite type of writing is when it feels like the person telling the story is sitting right there with you telling it just to YOU. love that.

best,
MOV

StratPlayerCJF said...

I absolutely LOVE the Tao of Pooh!!! A few other non-fiction books that have stuck with me for years and years are "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan; "The Tao of Physics" by Fritjof Capra; and "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" by Robert Pirsig.

Thanks for the visit to my blog and happy A-to-Zing!

Jessica Marcarelli said...

Short, sweet, and to the point. I like it. It's great advice!

I loved Winnie-the-Pooh growing up, as well as Peter Pan. They are powerful and still my favorites because of it.

Jessica
A to Z Blogger & SF/Fantasy Writer @ Visions of Other Worlds

Kristi said...

Aw, I love Pooh! We could all use a little more of that in our daily outlooks, I do believe! :)

Leslie S. Rose said...

Hello, Kate, thank you for stopping by my blog. I'm drawn most powerfully to characters. You've gotta love all the characters in Pooh's world. I'm a Lord of the Rings nut. I love losing myself in his world.

wsbhark said...

@jabblog
I read 'The Little Prince' in High School and loved that quote so much I still remember it: "What is essential is invisible to the eye." I love how the prince tamed the fox. It was such a beautiful story!

Kate, my children and I came to the mutual decision the other day that a person never really outgrows Pooh. :)

There are so many books that have affected me. I think that although I truly enjoy the classics such as Jane Austen novels or Jane Eyre, the most powerful two I have read in my life are To Kill A Mockingbird and A Town Like Alice.

Great post!

loverofwords said...

"A River Runs Through It." and "The Emperor of Ocean Park," by Stephen Carter, an amazing book about the Black upper middle class in America, part of a trilogy. But so many more, hard to just name a few, but a great question.