NotesFromSessionThree021

Johanna: the practice that improved my writing most was learning to ask for help with my writing.
Naomi: writing is good marketing. I've noticed that when I'm published regularly, there's a persistence of perception - people think they come across my stuff all the time, even if it's just a few articles a year. Once I asked someone who seemed to know about my monthly column - he told me "I read it every week".

We started out with the question of whether we'd discuss writing fiction vs. non-fiction. Dwayne remarked "Well, I write about project management...", after which we didn't dwell much on the differences.

We traded some tips on writing. Good writing starts with reading good (and some bad) writing. When reading books, open a "file" for interesting stuff you come across as you read it - good quotes, note on techniques that catch your eye. When reading articles, make a note of flesh (ideas) and bones (structure, flow, etc.).

Journaling is useful; journal on your writing. Richard Gabriel writes one poem every day. (Full quote, retrieved later: "I was talking to Mark Strand, who is one of the first poets who mentored me, and he said, more or less, that how good you are depends on how many poems you've written in your life. About two and a half years ago, I started writing a poem a day, and I've gotten way better since I started doing that. And so, I've probably written about 1000 poems in my life so far, almost all of them in the last two years.")

Judy passed on a tip - "When you're writing an article, you're not writing a mystery - don't let readers guess your conclusions".

Have three reviewers, if possible of differing personality types. As you gain experience as a writer, you'll learn what kind of feedback, specifically, to ask from your reviewers.

Writers' workshops are a way of gaining much insight in a compressed span of time.

Consider outlining. Some people use this as a main technique - write a rough outline, continually revise it and fill it in at lower levels of detail until all you need to do is write the paper or book from the outline.

Something was said about diagrams, that I didn't record properly.

Johanna said something about "writing snappy", which is itself a snappy phrase.

Write for yourself, make it personal in some way (content, tone, etc.) - that increases the chances of connecting with others.

First drafts and zeroth drafts (freewriting) were a main topic. See

Create a commitment to writing something. Journaling does that, though there are other ways. It doesn't matter how good or how bad; have something you want to say and download it to paper, without judging, or checking spelling or grammar. If you use Word, turn these off when you're writing in that mode; or use pen and paper. Another advantage of paper is that it's harder to "edit" on the fly, as opposed to just writing.

Dale recommended "Writing with power", by Peter Elbow.

Someone mentioned "blurts". If instead of writing you catch yourself criticising your writing, write down what your inner critic is saying, then resume on the main subject (or not).

Journals (and blogs) serve another purpose: you get rid of stuff that's cluttering your head by having written it down and putting it someplace.

LaurentBossavit 2003.11.30

Updated: Thursday, December 4, 2003