Writing the Way You Speak, page 2

Finally, and most importantly, the goal of this book is to make you a better and more fluent writer. I am not contradicting myself. By “fluent” I mean having the ability to communicate, not the trick of writing in a genre or mode, nor accurately following the “rules” of grammar.

Before I can answer the questions I’ve posed about the urge to write, and before we can proceed on the road towards the goal of making you the best writer you can be, I need to discuss many preliminary issues.

In this chapter, we’ll start this process with a warm-up. What are the things stopping you from writing, or from writing well? How can you loosen up, and just write?

And, what is writing--as opposed to the urge to write--about? “Many different things” is the simple, obvious, and unhelpful answer. Let’s shine a little clarity on the subject, and take a look at some of the things that writing is “about.” It’s important because the quality of most writing depends on what the content is about at both a text and subtext level--and also the motivations of the writer.

As in most of the chapters in this book, you’ll find a section of "Stretch Your Brain" exercises towards the end of the chapter. These exercises are meant to help you internalize the concepts discussed in the chapter, and to help you become a better, more fluent writer. They are a practical roadmap to help you implement the ideas expressed in the rest of the chapter.

What's Stopping You?

So you’ve always wanted to write a book. Or, you’re a good public speaker, or a great conversationalist, who just can’t seem to communicate as well in writing. If this sounds like you, or if you just want to learn to write well, what is stopping you?

Maybe you’re afraid of writing something foolish or stupid. This is the classical fear of failure, and if it is any consolation, everyone says or writes stupid and foolish things from time to time.

Actually, there’s nothing really wrong with failure, which is almost always a learning experience. As Samuel Beckett said: “Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”

Or maybe in your mind’s eye you see yourself getting an award for your writing--the bigger the award, let’s say Pulitzer Prize, National Book, or even Novel, the better! You get so caught up in your fantasy that you forget to start writing.

Or maybe you just don’t know where to begin.

To my mind it doesn’t matter whether you have a complex explanation for why you have trouble writing, or not. If you feel stopped in your writing, the answer is simple: start. To quote a famous advertising campaign, “Just do it!”

Continued next page

TOC || Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9