Writing From The Fringe
Don’t be scared. We’re not talking about horror here. Instead, we’re merely referring to edgy and quirky writing – text that’s hip and pushes the accepted boundaries. Think of it more like Johnny Depp than Freddy Krueger and you should get the picture.
1. Filter ideas through your view of the world. Don’t copy other people’s ideas or write to satisfy established beliefs. Instead, put everything through your own lens and make it wholly your own. If you have anywhere near an eccentric or original way of seeing the world, the results are bound to get people to take notice.
2. Be lively. Some publications prefer you to write in a dry, fact-based, objective tone. It’s hard to give that type of writing an edge. If you’d like to try, try to make it livelier, throwing in an off-place comment or two.
3. Throw in a strange twist. Slipping in a quirky fact related to your topic or blindsiding the reader with a bizarre twist can be enough to turn a regular piece into something that compels attention halfway through.
4. Be loud. You don’t need to be loud to be edgy, but taking your words to extremes is one guaranteed way to do it. Of course, you have to back up the bluster with solid ideas, good writing (use a software-based proofreader, at the least) and damn sound reasoning. If you don’t, you’ll just be dismissed as an ignorant buffoon.
5. Be willing to look stupid. Take unnecessary risks. Note the word “unnecessary.” Those are things you don’t need to be doing but are throwing in just for the heck of it. Those things become the stuff of legends.