The 7 habits of highly effective writers
Have you ever wondered why some people write easily and fluently, while others struggle and strain as if trying to squeeze a 185-lb body into a size six pair of jeans? In 30 years at this trade, I’ve noticed that effective writers tend to share seven traits. So, with apologies to Stephen Covey, here is my list.
Effective writers …
1) Separate the writing and the editing processes. When they write, they write, not worrying about the quality of their work. Writer/director Cecil Castellucci says: ‘The best flowers are fertilized by crap.’ Remember this and give yourself permission to write a crummy first draft.
Editing is a job for later. That’s when you’ll have plenty of time to rearrange big chunks of text, monkey around with sentence structure, obsess over word choice and fix punctuation.2) Focus on the interesting. Effective writers (and speakers) always tell lots of stories. If they have to communicate something ‘theoretical’, they illustrate it with real life examples and anecdotes. They know that human beings don’t just crave food—they are also starved for stories.
3) Tap into the power of metaphor. As metaphor expert Anne Miller likes to say, ‘metaphors lead to instant understanding’. There are at least three metaphors in this article (can you find them all?)
4) Do adequate research. There is nothing more painful than trying to write when you have nothing to say. Effective writers understand that good research is all about asking interesting questions—of themselves, of the books, Web sites and reports they read and of anyone they interview. And this needs to be completed before any writing can begin.
5) Learn from the writing of others. Effective writers understand that they are lifelong apprentices. They learn by reading—constantly. Note: this is not just passive, flip- through-a-thriller-while-sitting-on-the-pool- deck kind of reading. This is active sit-up-and-pay-attention-to-technique dissection—similar to what a scientist would do in a lab. You won’t want to read this closely all the time, of course (it’s work—although fun work, to my mind). But effective writers do some of this every week.
6) Write in small bursts. Creative work doesn’t require oodles of time. That first draft you need to write? It’s best done in dribs and drabs, a little bit at a time. Instead of procrastinating, effective writers persuade themselves to write a little each day, no matter how frazzled and frantic they feel. (Editing, on the other hand, usually needs space, time and quiet.)
7) Read their work out loud. Language isn’t just meaning—it’s also music. The most effective writers can often be found sitting by the computer keyboards, madly whispering to the screen, repeating their words back to themselves. Yes, it looks kooky and co-workers may become alarmed. But effective writers don’t care. They do it because it works.
By Daphne Gray-Grant
A former daily newspaper editor, Daphne Gray-Grant is a writing and editing coach and the author of 8 Steps to Writing Faster, Better. She offers a free weekly newsletter on her Web site the Publication Coach. This story first appeared on PR Daily in August 2011.
From Writers Write
(as appropriated from this page)
Write regularly, whether you feel like writing or not, and whether you think what you’re writing is any good or not.
Give yourself short assignments. Keep it manageable so you don’t get overwhelmed.
Write shitty first drafts. Don’t expect a piece of writing to flow perfectly out of your fingers on the first go.
Let the Polaroid develop; in other words, observe, watch, listen, stay in the moment, until you understand what you want to write about.
Know your characters.
Let the plot grow out of the characters.
“If you find that you start a number of stories or pieces that you don’t ever bother finishing…it may be that there is nothing at their center about which you care passionately. You need to put yourself at their center, you and what you believe to be true or right.”
Figure out ways to jam the transmissions from Radio KFKD, the interior station feeding doubts and criticism into your brain. Especially about jealousy of other writers.
Have pen and paper ready at all times. (Carry an index card.)
Call around. Ask for help.
Start a writing group.
Write in your own voice.
Being published brings a quiet joy, but it doesn’t transform your life, and eventually you have to write again.
“Devotion and commitment will be their own reward.”
- How does this word even work?
- Did I really just write that paragraph a few seconds ago? Past me is an idiot.
- People are going to love this character. Better get to the killing.
- My protagonist hates me.
- Asdffgjfrt this PERFECT metaphor…
- … has got to go because it’s completely idiotic.
- Meh, I’ll just edit these things out later.
- Oh, crap. What if people think this is autobiographical?
- I wish this book already existed, and was written by my favorite author.
- Is this filler?
- Nobody would actually react like that.
- I wonder if I missed anything on Tumblr during the last five minutes.
- That scene is beautiful. Anybody who disagrees should be executed.
Lynn Abbey (via writingquotes)
Sandra Cisneros (via writingquotes)
1) “Careful about too many adverbs, particularly describing how people speak (Paul asked disbelievingly, etc.). It can be cumbersome and a bit intrusive on the reader.”
2) “Resist the temptation of easy satire. … Good satire has to be a little muted. Should spill out from under a seemingly somber situation.”
3) “Try to get the basic stats on the characters out of the way early {Paul was 24} so that you can spend the rest of the story revealing character.”
4) “Think about the key moment(s) in the story, and build tension leading to those key moments.”
5) “[W]rite outside your own experience. … I find that this works the fictive imagination harder.”
Barack Obama: Five writing tips from a future president.
Afriend sent Obama a manuscript for editing, and he wrote back with the above.
(Source: Yahoo!)
GEORGE (writing on a notepad): Wait a second, wait a second…and then the butler says, “I’m not cleanin’ it up! I’m sick of cleaning!”
JERRY (copying it down and grinning): That’s funny, that’s funny! “I’m sick of cleaning.” That’s very funny.
GEORGE (laughing): I’ve never seen a pilot script as funny as this!
JERRY: Yeah, it’s funny!
GEORGE: I mean, how funny is this?
JERRY (low voice): It’s funny.
GEORGE: I mean, we’re not stupid, right? We know when something’s funny!
JERRY: It cannot not be funny! Now come on, let’s stay with it, we gotta finish this today.(via The Shoes)