Picking the Brain of Naomi Dunford

October 9, 2008

For our interview of top bloggers this week, we have Naomi Dunford visiting Blue Duck Copy. Naomi’s bold, smart, and daring writing style draws in a large crowd of loyal readers to Itty Biz, her blog designed for small businesses seeking marketing tips and services.

She weaves sarcasm, humor, solid advice, poignant personal experiences, and marketing genius into one big ball of blogging greatness. Naomi’s blog immediately caught my attention the very first time I visited, and I’ve been returning to her classroom daily since then. Her humor and honesty is refreshing. If you haven’t visited Itty Biz, stop in and prepare to laugh your way though some solid marketing teaching and street-smart advice.

Enough of my jabber, on to Naomi’s interview.

What writing habits do you practice daily?

Well, I blog between three and five days a week, and I’ve always got a couple of books on the go. At this point, most of my writing is what I’m professionally obligated to do. Not much time for Morning Pages anymore, although they were nice while the lasted.

What is your process for improving your writing?

If I feel like I’m starting to lose my voice, I read Dooce. Preferably the really old posts. Also Amalah and The Bloggess. If I feel like something sucks, I cut 35%. I read stuff out loud to make sure I’m not repeating words. (“Bunch”, “stuff”, “bazillion” and “shit” in every conceivable part of speech are big culprits.) I refuse to write when I’m tired because I’ve finally learned that whatever I come up with when I’m sleepy sucks and I have to redo it the next day anyway.

What books or blog posts have influenced the mechanics and heart of your writing the most?

Heart, yes. Mechanics, no. I have absolutely zero time for mechanics. If I die under the wheels of a bus tomorrow, I don’t want to have spent today worrying about my grammar.

There are the usual suspects – Writing Down the Bones, The Artist’s Way, Bird by Bird — but those are obvious. I really liked Making a Literary Life: Advice for Writers and Other Dreamers by Carolyn See. (No! A book about writing novels by a person who’s actually written novels? Say it ain’t so!)

Also, if you want to write fiction of any genre, there are two fantastic and totally underutilized resources that come to mind. JA Konrath’s website, and the community and lessons at eHarlequin.com. (Romance editors are vicious when it comes to things like characterization, so if you can learn to please them, you can pretty much please anyone.)

“If I die under the wheels of a bus tomorrow, I don’t want to have spent today worrying about my grammar.” That ’bout says it all.

Thanks Naomi for letting us pick your brain. You’ve given me enough information and resources to occupy my brain for the next month.

Up to bat next week is Leo Babauta, of Zen Habits. Mr. Babauta will provide us with his insight on how he improves his writing. You won’t want to miss it.

(Just a note, while the books listed in Naomi’s interview are linked to Amazon for your convenience, these are not affiliate links. Feel free to click away.)

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Posted by Jamie | Filed Under Blogging

Comments

Jamie Simmerman

Hi Kelly, Your writing shows your attention to detail. We love you, even with your grammar Nazi style. :D

I had a YouTube video around here somewhere, about grammar, I'll post it for you after bit!

Kelly

Jamie,

Naomi hit one that's near and dear to my heart, too: "I read stuff out loud to make sure I’m not repeating words." Yes, yes. And to make sure it has a good rhythm and sounds natural. When I write it's critical to me to write how I sound. So I often stop and read my writing to see if it sounds like something I'd say. That way I'll notice if I've gotten too puffed up and academic for my own good, which otherwise is a danger.

I also like to put work away for a day, then read it out loud. The funniest thing is that a day later, I may not know what I meant. (Sleepy writing, as Naomi says, is usually the cause.) If I don't know, how the heck will anyone else know?

:) If I die under the wheels of a bus tomorrow, I *do* want to have spent today worrying about my grammar. That's the kind of gal I am.

Great interview!

Regards,

Kelly

<abbr>Kelly´s last spectacular blog post..Tip of the Week: Put a Lion in Your Pocket</abbr>

Jamie Simmerman

H iIdris,
Would I steer you wrong? Naomi is an awesome blogger. I hope you learn tons from her and make your business a whopping success!

Idris

Bravo! Bravo! Bravo! Jamie

I was very much both inspired and intrigued after reading through this blog. One of my favorites was, " Moral of the Story: Black Eye Edition" which is one of her newer posts.

She speaks from the heart and keeps it REAL. Gotta love that!
Her throw grammar to the wind way of writing is also refreshing.

This is one of my daily reads.

Jamie Simmerman

Amy, She was such a willing participant, too. :)

I learned a great deal from Naomi's answers. I love her comment about grammar and the bus.

Amy Derby

Always nice to see Naomi's brain picked. :-)

<abbr>Amy Derby´s last spectacular blog post..Fiction Friday: Mommy Says I’m Pretty on the Insides, and other stories (plus markets)</abbr>