Writing is one of my hobbies. This blog gives me an outlet, a venue, and way to express myself and write often enough to get better. I think. After years of teaching writing, I have concluded that there are twenty ways to get better at the sport activity. Here is the list:
1. Writing
2. Writing
3. Writing
4. Re-writing
5. Re-writing
6. Reading
7. Reading some more
8. Reading good writers
9. Talking about writing
10. Writing
11. Thinking about writing
12. Reading
13. Writing
14. Re-writing
15. Writing narratives
16. Writing fiction
17. Writing arguments
18. Writing persuasive essays
19. Writing favorite memories
20. Reading
See? Writing is a skill and a skill is something one gets better at by doing it. Slowly the writer learns her craft by composing sentences day after day. The subject is not important. What is important is that the writer writes, writes often, and re-writes the writing to make it better.
Putting thoughts onto paper is not easy for some people. For many years, I was one of those persons. I always wrote well, but for me when I was in college, writing papers was the biggest stress in life. Even when I knew what I wanted to say, putting the words on paper was a slow and arduous process. I felt like a licked salt shaker: the words only dribbled out one at a time while I tried to shake them out of my mind.
Also important is to learn some of the techniques that good writers use. In English Composition I, we read Ricky Bragg's All over but the Shoutin'. The reason for this text is that Bragg offers an excellent example of good writing in almost every sentence of his work. Once I had read Bragg enough to recognize his techniques, I began to see those same techniques in every published writer I read.
What are those techniques, you ask? A few of them are the series of three, an almost ubiquitous use of metaphors (especially the simile), variety of sentence types and lengths, added detail, images, characterization, alliteration, effective use of planned repetition, and others, many many others.
Once I began to categorize Bragg's techniques and see them in other writers, I then began to use them myself. For example, the series of three is something I have never written in a first draft. Two is natural for me, but now instead of changing it in the revising process, I catch it while I am drafting. If I write a series of two, such as in the sentence, "I had a good day of training with running and swimming." I will immediately revise to "I had a good day of training with running, swimming, and proper nutrition." Test if for yourself. Which sentence do you think is more pleasing?
The previous paragraph (see what I did there) mentioned revision. I often accuse my students of have Larry the Cable Guy Syndrome. They just want to throw a few works on paper, hit Print, and turn it in. In short, they want to "Get 'er done" the fastest and easiest way possible. Good writers, however, do not have Larry the Cable Guy Syndrome. To them, their writing represents them, their intellect, their ability, their pride. Slowly, I have developed the habit and the pride to go back and rework my writing to make it better. Believe me, it's worth the effort.
