Video: Ten Short Maxims for Good Writing
“Whether I write well or not, I will let others decide. All I know is that I am a writer—because I have the two things that make someone worthy of the title ‘writer’: (1) deadlines and (2) a paycheck. And I offer what little advice I can give to aspiring writers.” - Mark Ward
(Article version at Word by Word)
- 196 views
If you are a writer, why do you make me listen to a 13 minute video to get what you want to say? Write it so I can scan it and decide how much time I want to devote to what you have to say.
Donn R Arms
If you’re a writer, you get tired of writing!
But in this case, he already wrote it… there’s a link to the written version in the Filing.
Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.
I just demonstrated how good I am at scanning text. I just had total knee replacement surgery and the pain meds have my thinking fogged up. That’s my excuse anyway.
This is a great article. I am spending my “retirement” years editing and republishing Jay Adams’ books. He is a joy to read. He would have uttered a loud amen to this article.
Donn R Arms
If you want to read it rather than listen, watch the video directly on youtube and turn on the transcription.
Ann Handley (sadly not yet redeemed) has great tips on writing. Her book Everybody Writes is stuffed full. Or check her blog. One post: How to Get Better at Writing: 10 Ideas to Ignite Your Best Work This Year - Ann Handley
Ann’s advice is also good, though I can only claim to do about half of them. I’ve never attempted to “write to one person,” when it’s an article or essay. … actually, no, I did do it once that I can recall. It’s not normally how my mind works.
I also don’t have the discipline to write every day.
The first draft advice is golden: crank it out fast and don’t stop. I just can’t always do it. I get to looping on one paragraph that just won’t seem to roll… or the word-making section of my brain takes a nap. So then it has to be another day. But often, early first draft attempts get replaced by a new “first” draft that does go quickly, and that’s the one that gets done.
On reading aloud: when I remember to, I have Microsoft Immersive Reader (in MS Word) read back to me. It helps! (Especially with the words that never got keyed in because my typing only pretended to keep up with my brain!)
Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.
Featured Resource
Discussion