Writing to Connect

Should you write for yourself or for others? There are two schools of thought on this issue. Those who say you should always write with others in mind are speaking to the age-old advice to know your audience and then tailor your writing to that audience. Those who say you should always write to please yourself are speaking to the equally timeless advice to write with an authentic voice. There is merit in both perspectives. When writing to please yourself, readers may be unable to connect with your writing and it may be ineffective and confusing. On the other hand, if you're writing only what you think others want to read and not what you really want to write, your writing will likely come off as ineffective and lifeless. There is a way to write what you want and still have it be alive and meaningful for others. Write about what you care about and write with passion. Readers will pick up on that intensity. But also remember the critical eye that you must apply to your writing to determine if your passion is communicating clearly to readers. Will readers find your ideas and enthusiasm valuable? Or have you written something so self-involved that no one else can relate to it? There is a middle ground, a sweet spot, in writing where you can bring your heart to your work in a way that is profoundly personal, yet universally true . Search for that spot and your writing will be unforgettable.

Waiting to Write

Finding time to write is a continual challenge for writers. Life is full of obligations and distractions that steal our time and leave writing on the back burner. How do you overcome this dearth of available time and create the time and space you need to devote to writing? It's really simpler than you think. Do you have to carve out time in your day to breathe? Of course not. You just do it. It's essential to your life and well-being. If writing is essential to your life and well-being, then just do it. Getting caught up in thinking about when you will write (i.e., when your chores are done, when there is quiet time, when the cows come home, etc.) is a trap that keeps you from writing. Instead of wasting precious time and energy figuring out when you will be able to write, just sit down and write. Maybe it's only for five minutes, but it's still writing, and you've accomplished much more than you realize. You've given in to the urge, the need to write, instead of putting it off with wasteful planning. There are all kinds of reasons and excuses for not writing right now and for putting it off until later. But none of these reasons are as compelling as writing right now in this moment because you have to, because not to would be denying yourself that fulfillment that is so essential to who you are. Writing instead of waiting is the single most definitive act you can do to get your writing life back on track.

Rejection as a Tool for Success

How to handle rejection is an issue writers frequently grapple with. Sometimes editors reply with advice that sheds light on why a writer's work is rejected. Most of the time, rejections come in standard form with no personal response attached. Whether you receive a personal response or a standard one, it is an opportunity to learn and improve. You can look at rejection as free tutoring offered by seasoned professionals. If you get specific advice regarding what you need to work on, it bears some serious consideration. You don't have to aceept the advice, but it is at least worth giving thought to. If you get a standard rejection with no advice, consider it as your invitation to take a hard, critical look at your work and challenge yourself with figuring out what parts of your work are ineffective. The editor has left it up to you, so take on the challenge. What is not helpful is taking the rejection with a defeatist or defiant attitude. Editors are in the business of finding good, publishable writing. Their purpose is not to discourage, but to be honest. Take that honesty and work with it to make yourself the best writer you can be. Use rejection as a tool, not an obstacle, and you will soon find those acceptance notices rolling in.

Read to Write

A writer's most valuable resource for learning how to write is reading. If you want to write mystery novels, read mystery novels. If you want to write poetry, read volumes of poetry. But read with two eyes - one for enjoyment, one for technique. Pay attention to the little details the writer employs that make that novel or poem resonate. You can learn what you like and don't like, what works well and what doesn't. There is no better teacher for how to write a novel than a well-written novel, no better teacher for how to write poetry than a well-crafted poem. Reading, for writers, is learning. Make an apprenticeship of reading. List the authors who write the types of works - fiction, nonfiction or poetry - that you would like to write. Then study them. Read with a pen and highlighter in hand. When a word or phrase or sentence or passage speaks strongly to you, mark it for future reference. Make note of how the author accomplished the impression and why it is so effective. Read widely. By experiencing a wide variety of authors, you will be exposed to a multitude of writing styles. From those, you can pick and choose what best suits your style and incorporate the techniques that fit you. Reading widely and well with a critical eye and a love for language is the best thing you can do to become an effective writer. Read yourself into your writing life and it will be rich with promise.

Practice for Pleasure

One of the best ways to improve your writing is to establish a regular writing practice. That means writing for writing's sake, daily if possible. It is human nature to write only when we have a goal in mind - a paper, report, chapter, book. But working on a project isn't the same as practicing. When you're working toward a defined goal, you aren't as free to exercise that creative muscle and let it flex in new and unexpected ways. By practicing writing with no goal in mind other than exploring your writing potential, you will experience true growth in your writing abilities. There are many ways to practice writing. Journaling teaches you to follow the flow of your thoughts and develop associative thinking and spontaneity. Writing brief sketches that respond to prompts such as: "the color red tastes like......" or "the wind looks like......." teaches you to develop new and insightful connections. Writing a brief description of whatever is around you at the moment teaches you to transform ordinary things or events into creative expression. You can devise many ways to practice writing that are meaningful to you. By doing so, you will improve not only your writing skills but also your ability to enjoy the process of writing - perhaps the most worthwhile benefit of all.

Passion vs. Knowledge

Writing what you know vs. what you may have to research is an often debated topic for writers. There are those who firmly believe you can only write authentically if you write what you know from personal experience. Others firmly believe you can write authentically about something you don't have personal experience with as long as you've done adequate research. Both camps have merit. What is missing from their arguments is the all-important element of passion. If you are passionate about your subject, your writing will resonate. You can write about what you know and have it fall flat if it's not a subject you care deeply about. Likewise, you can write about a subject you've researched well enough to be an expert on and still have it fall flat if you don't care deeply about the subject. What makes writing authentic is the zeal and inspiration the writer brings to it. The writer's level of experience with or depth of research on the subject is secondary. The primary ingredient of effective writing is the fresh voice and unique eye of passion that makes the writing unforgettable. Let passion guide your writing and it will sing on the page, no matter what your subject matter or level of experience. Care about what you write and the rest will take care of itself.

Beginning to Write

Beginning a writing project is often the most difficult part of the writing process. Just getting those first few words on paper can seem impossible. This is because, as writers, we often focus on the end product instead of the process. Writing is process in its purest form and finding value in the process is what writers must learn to do. The reason we struggle with those first few words is because we already have the finished product firmly set in our minds and the gigantic leap we must make from that first word to the finished project overwhelms us. We are defeated before we have even started. Learning to enjoy the process involves focusing on one word, one sentence, one paragraph at a time. Just writing from one sentence to the next, one paragraph to the next, without thinking about the end result, will eventually find us at the end. This is how runners finish a race - one stride, one stretch of ground at a time, until suddenly the finish line is in sight. The smart runner, the enduring runner, has envisioned the next step and the next step and the next step in his mind, but never the end of the race. Likewise, the wise writer focuses on the next word, not the finished work. Allow yourself to linger in the process of writing and you will find it easier to reach your goals.

Revision as Art

Revision is one of those tasks that writers often dread. However, revision is at the heart of what writing is all about. Revision, in its Latin roots, means "revisioning" or seeing anew. It means coming to your writing with fresh eyes, a new perspective. It's from this new perspective that true writing begins to take shape. A rough draft is just getting the words down on paper, much like a musician warms up or a painter lays down the background colors on the canvas. Revision is where the true art of writing happens. It's the tedious, nitpicking detail and reworking of detail until it's just right that turns a draft into a work of art. I often tell my writing students that writers tend to see what they meant to say rather than what they really said. So it is important for writers to step back, get some distance between themselves and their rough drafts, before engaging in revision. Then, instead of dreading revision as if it is some hacking, chopping chore, see it as a revisioning process that brings a clearer focus to the images you have in your head. The closer you can bring your writing to that original vision you carry in your mind, the better your writing will be and the clearer your vision will be to readers.

Impasse and Patience

Just as the sun came out today after a rainy week, so does the light eventually shine on your stalemated writing project. When you hit those dips in the road that seem to stop your writing mid-track, trust that eventually you will break through again, and your work will resume its forward progression. It's the trusting part that is hardest for most of us. Too many times, writers abandon writing projects altogether when they reach an impasse and the piece seems to have stopped. Too many times, they don't have the patience to wait it out, leave it alone for awhile, let it steep, and then return to it with a fresh perspective. During this waiting time, there are other writing projects you can focus on that will give you some distance from the work that has stalemated. You will likely find, once you have returned to the work, that you are seeing it with fresh eyes and it looks differently than it did when you last looked at it. You will also likely find that you have discovered a way to make it work, to make it move again. So don't abandon your work before it's time to. Give it a chance to come alive and shine for you.

Sense and Purpose

Having the right sense about why you're writing is the most important tool you need as a writer. Do you want to write for yourself, for others, for a certain targeted group of others? What do you want to accomplish as a writer? In other words, is your passion for writing best described as a desire to express yourself artistically, a desire to communicate with others, a desire to help others, or some other desire? Nailing down exactly why you want to write is important for so many reasons. It guides not only what you write but how you build your writing life. If you are writing to make a living, you will build many more things into your goals and expectations than if you are writing as a hobby. It is important to remember that writing for either reason is still valuable writing. You don't have to have aspirations to be a best selling author in order to have a satisfying and meaningful writing life. Your aspirations may be as simple as writing meaningful memoirs or family histories for your family's enjoyment. That level of writing is no less valuable than the lastest bestseller. So, make sure you have the right "sense" about why you write and let that guide your writing.