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Intellectual masturbation about good writing

Rodney O. Lane was a columnist at The Mac Observer and a journalism professor.

So you consider yourself a writer, yes?


"Writing is a struggle."

—Muhammed Ali

“The Writer is not a reporter, but a Great Teacher. His job is to depict the world not as it is, but as it should be. ”

- G. L. Mencken , Prejudice, from the essay Critique of the Critique of Criticism.

“School writing is mostly bad, because students and teachers play in writing, rather than take it seriously. And what motive to write well can be awakened in a student? There is only one valid motive: the desire to be read. ”

- Jacques Barzen , Teacher in America, from the chapter "How to Write and Be Read."

“Clutter is a disease of American writing. Our national inclination is to inflate and thus seem significant. The pilot who wakes us up to report that “he is currently facing difficult weather” might not even think that there is a thunderstorm ahead and may shake. The proposal is too simple and that means something is wrong with him. But the secret of a good text is to strip every sentence to its simplest components. Can such principles be taught? Maybe not. But most of them can be learned. ”

- William Zinser , How to write well.

Part One: Follow Your Passion


When I was a young English professor at college, I had the pleasure of teaching an introductory course in journalism - and that was really a pleasure. When I did not chuckle with myself about the sometimes frank, sometimes sophisticated attempts of my students to sexually tease and / or seduce me, I often puzzled over lesson plans and activities that would inspire them with the whole seriousness of their chosen field and the importance of full dedication to this matter. I tried to convey this from the first day.

“I want you to take a piece of paper,” I announced without warning, entering the first lesson. I do not even take the list of students and do not introduce myself - all this was for effect. "This is a test guys."

A pair of students are expected to make a soft moan. I smile internally and continue: “There are only two questions in this test. Be open and honest in your answers, and write down the first thing that comes to mind. ”

I pause for a few seconds, looking at everyone in the front row. A pair of students shyly look away. One guy holds his gaze and tries to look at me. I like it in him. I am the first to interrupt eye contact, letting him think that he “won”.

“Question number one: Describe yourself in three words. It can be adjectives, nouns, anything. ”

I pause and watch them write the answer. I watch their movements, their facial expressions, and how quickly they begin to write. I do not wait long for most to write something.

“Question number two: write three words that other people would describe you.”

I'm waiting a little longer.

“Okay, put the pens down. Time is over. Now you, ”I say, nodding to the young man behind the hall,“ tell me what you wrote in response to the first and second questions. ” He reads them. I repeat this with a few students. Then I reveal to them a riddle.

“This is a lesson in journalism,” I say. “As I understand it, each of you is a future journalist. Do you consider yourself a reporter or writer? Do not answer. This is a rhetorical question. We will return to this issue throughout the quarter. But I want you to think about it from now on. As for the questions you just answered. I just wanted to see who would give such answers: a writer, a writer, a bookworm reading ... ”

I am sure they understand where I am going.

“My idea is that if you strive to be a professional writer, you should always think of yourself as a writer. It should be in your blood. People who know you should think of you as a writer. You must become a student of good writing if you want to become a good writer. ”

I think they understood the idea.

Further, the whole quarter was devoted to the construction and use of the four main types of sentences (simple, compound, complex and complex *). I tried to convince them that if they learn the basics, they can create pretty decent texts. Throughout the first half of a quarter every day I forced them to write paragraphs before we even began to write full-fledged works.

In the first half, we also read a lot: I instructed them to bring articles from USA Today to classes to learn how to dissect and recognize the “ inverted pyramid ” style (who, what, when, where and why in the first paragraph; less and less relevant information in the following paragraphs ) I instructed them to read The Wall Street Journalso that they learn to dissect and recognize their approach of news entry and story completion. We also read articles from news magazines. I probably surprised them when I brought them photocopies of excerpts from my favorite comics, science fiction novels, and theological writings.

In short, we studied the entire palette of professional writing.

I would like to think that I released them from my hands with a better understanding of what it means to be a writer.

Sometimes it seems to me that this approach to writing is not enough for today's generation of journalists and scribes, professionals and beginners.

Part two: good writing can be taught, or it can be "adopted"


Elsewhere on this site, Michael MĂŒnger and Dave Schultz wrote an article together, where they advocated for a higher professionalism in web journalism - in particular, they indicated the need for more thoroughbred writers, and not for part-time scribes like your humble servant. What they said does not bother me, because their arguments make sense.

However, I want to approach this argument from a different perspective: I believe that many writers do not become students of writing. Before you direct your anger at me, hear me.

First hear what I am not saying. I am not saying that people who write there should not write. Far from it. I think everyone should write. The web has done what Gutenbergonly dreamed: literacy is now available to everyone - for people, from people, from people. If you have an opinion, you should write and publish it.

But here is where I see the problem (they will accuse me of vanity, but I will take a chance): many people who have been writing on the Internet for some time (and in other places) do not get better. Their work is no better than it was when they wrote their first material.

Good writing improves over time; the same goes for good writers. If you are stuck on the same topics and the same emotional / psychological level as at the beginning of your writing career / profession, then alas. No worthy writer should stagnate in his work. Look at your favorite writer and evaluate the progress in the quality of his creative work.

Therefore, to help you get out of your rut and elevate your writing skills to a higher level, I would like to share some of my rules. These are not universal rules, but some rules, my rules. Your experience may vary.


#1. I read eagerly. Good writers read a lot. I have a list of favorite writers whose work I always read or try to read. For example, my cabinets are full of works by Mike Roiko , Octavia Butler , Timothy Zahn , John Byrne, Hemingway , Menken, Fitzgerald , Shakespeare , Shaw , Wolf . Reading good material introduces you not only to good ideas, but also to good techniques and forms of expression. I like to study how someone else turned the phrase to express an idea or thought that I often felt or thought. You will NEVER grow up as a writer unless you read.

# 2 I try to use a variety of sentences, as an artist uses different brushes or different colors. I try to use short sentences to speed up the reader. I try to use long sentences when I want to slow down the reader and clarify something. I like to use dialogs. Like Plato. I am in good company.

# 3 I regularly reread William Zinser's book, How to Write Well.

#4. I have developed eclectic tastes in reading. When I was in college, there was one student journalist who wanted to become a sports writer. All he read was sports articles. As a result, his works were filled with cliches, were tasteless and often boring. What I tried to do was to develop a wide range of interests and tried to read a lot on each of them. A good writer should be able to speak intelligently on almost any topic, or at least be able to express a sound opinion on almost any issue. A good writer should not limit imagination to meager food.

#5. I bought The Style Elements by Strank and White. I also read it. This is a Bible of good writing. At least one of them.

# 6 I always try to answer all letters, even angry ones. First of all, a person will really hate you if he calls you a black son of a bitch, and you answer him and agree with him! Among my many critics, there is a guy on some site called Mac Monkey who likes to scold me in public and in personal correspondence. I just smile and send him an answer like “Have a nice day!” - and I write it from the heart. Such a person will never love you, so it’s nice to get under his skin. But the meaning of the answers to the letters is to stay in touch with the main reason why you write: with the reader. In the end, we want to be read. It won’t work without readers. And readers appreciate when you respond. I know many "eminent" web and print writers who will not take a second to me - and I am their absolutely loyal fan.I'll be damned if I become just as pompous. Well, maybe a little flatulence won't hurt :)

Another mail keeps you in check. Readers will quickly point out your inaccuracies in spelling, grammar and logic. And we deserve it (we must be able to accept it the same way we distribute it ourselves). If we cannot accept criticism, we should not write. This is the hardest lesson; As part of this, I constantly go through “remedial exercises”.

# 7 I fill my personal library with literary reference books, such as Reverse Dictionary and Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student, as well as How to Write and Publish My First Novel. The reverse dictionary is my favorite. This is a book that in alphabetical order contains definitions with a set of words corresponding to them - the opposite of a regular dictionary. I fill the shelves with other books, such as the World Almanac, books on English grammar, literary criticism, and biographies of my favorite writers (Menken, Wright, Allison, etc.). I have many books with quotes.

#8. I often reread my old work - and shudder. A sign of a developing writer is that he or she will go and read his old works and immediately see typos, poor word selection, poor grammar, twisted sentence designs — in short, just a bad job. In other words, a good writer is never satisfied with his latest work. I did not write anything that I would be proud of later.

“You're as good as your last article.”
—Message from the mailing list

“Lord, thank you for today's article; and I apologize for yesterday. "
- Lewis Grizzard , late syndicated columnist of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Great American

Of course, I often end up writing something and feel satisfied. But weeks, days, even minutes later, I rush to make corrections. I often publish articles (for example, this is an updated article, as of 12:47 p.m. central time on August 25, 2001), and often modify and rewrite them after publication. During today, if you refresh the page and read this essay more than once, you will see where I corrected the typos, reformulated the sentences, and even deleted some (for example, the section entitled “Part Three: Conclusions ...” is not was in the first version, which was published on Friday morning). A good writer is never satisfied.

#9. I write about topics that turn me on. This encourages you to write more carefully. When you read the work, you should see that the author was excited / angry / serious about what he wrote. “Keeping it real,” as young people say.

#10. I try to write about issues from points of view from which my fellow writers would never have approached. From time to time I write about issues with racial overtones and background. But I would like to believe that I don’t even need to “go there” and still be able to write essays that other writers would not or could not have imagined. This is one of the reasons why I believe that everyone should try themselves as an online author. You, other writers, will raise issues that I can’t even think about.

#eleven. I keep my eyes and ears open for cool new words, sayings, as well as colorful expressions, witticisms, etc. I often receive hostile letters about the use of epigraphs and quotes at the beginning of my articles. You think. People usually ask why I use them, but I don’t think it needs to be explained. In any case, most quotes come from what I heard, said, read, or scooped from films, books, and other forms of popular culture. I think that the development of this habit hones and improves writing skills as well as hard reading.

#12. I write in forms that would attract and hold my attention if I were a reader; in other words, I write what I would like to read (this often includes a headline). If I cannot master my own text, how can I expect others to do it? Therefore, I often re-read my work, albeit only to find flaws in logic, style and structure. I am not shy. This is just a sequel to # 9.

#thirteen. I spent years mastering the rules of journalistic writing - now I try to break them. “You must know the rules before breaking them,” as they say. I often get hateful letters about my supposedly “unorthodox” writing style: in news articles, I write “I” in the first person; I start some articles with quotes; I insert opinions into what some readers consider to be purely news ... They do not suspect that I can write articles in the spirit of facts-only-facts-nothing-except-facts all day if I want. But I do not want. I'd rather try experimenting with different writing styles, different approaches. For me, this is an attempt to create a written work of art to the same extent that it is an exercise in reporting. Sometimes throw surprises to your readers. They like it.

Part Three: In conclusion ...


This is a very superficial presentation on the topic of good writing. In the next few days, relying on readers' feedback and my thoughts, I hope to revise this article in order to develop this extended thought. I think it would be the pinnacle of arrogance to think that I can regularly preach about what is or is not good writing. Nevertheless, I would like to share with you some thoughts on how I perceive and create my own works, and how I never stop trying to try something.

I was pleased when some time ago two young people came to me who wrote for another Mac site. They wanted me to give them writing advice. At first I hesitated, because I imagined myself to be just another guy who likes to write and who has nothing to offer his fellow writers. Then I came to the conclusion that if I really believe in this, then I will not (and should not) be a writer. Writers want to change something; they believe their work matters. This is not an ego. This is a burning desire to express oneself. It is the belief that what you say can and will affect others.

According to G. L. Mencken, this is precisely the purpose of writing: he says that good writing should be an indispensable engine of change (often social). Good writing serves as a light, but it should also include monitoring and raising general anxiety when necessary (“reassure the afflicted and bring suffering to the calm,” as the reporter's saying goes). However, the ability to do this well does not arise with a wave of the wand. William Zinser says good writing usually comes from hard work. He says that writing is not just words on paper. A good writer also gives himself away:
, , , , . , , , . , . ? ? ? -, , .

This is the same deal with oneself that underlies good writing. Two essential qualities flow from it: humanity and warmth. A good text has a liveliness that makes the reader read paragraph by paragraph, and this is not about tricks to “personalize” the author. It is about using the English language in such a way as to achieve the greatest power and the least clutter.

So we all say . So we all say.

The end.

Notes


* Simple sentence: A sentence consisting of one independent grammatical basis (the grammatical basis consists of a subject and predicate / predicate) - "John can ride a bicycle."

Compound sentence: consists of two or more independent grammatical foundations - "John can ride a bike, and he can ride a car."

Complicated sentence: consists of at least one independent grammatical basis and one dependent basis - "John can ride a bicycle as long as he has training wheels on it."

A compound sentence: two or more independent grammatical bases and at least one dependent - “John can ride a bicycle, and he can ride a bicycle very fast, as long as he has training wheels on it.”

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