An Approach to Writing
This post was written by Tom from Winston-Salem’s Lone Beatnik:
I’ve often thought about how I write; what the process is that I go through when I put pen to paper, or more accurately when I put my fingers on the keyboard. I don’t really know how I write– that actual act of writing, and creating a piece of writing, it’s a mystery to me in some sense.
Writing has always been an organic thing for me. I remember during high school, when we’d do in-class writing, I would always start writing while my peers furiously made outlines. I always ended up doing well, despite my lack of planning and despite finishing much earlier than my classmates (modesty prevents me from going any further with this).
Though I began to write outlines and become more organized as I went through college and into graduate school, I tried to keep things fairly spontaneous. For me, how much time I had to write a paper didn’t matter as much as the point when inspiration would dawn on me. While other students would grind out papers, it seemed as though my papers sprung almost out of nowhere. It could be weeks in advance or a couple days before the deadline, however option #2 happened a lot more than #1. Organic is the way I would describe my writing process; I’m not necessarily in control of it, but it is control of me. When inspiration dawns upon me, that is when I write and not before.
One time, I was meeting with a professor during his office hours and I described to him my approach to writing. I described how I approach writing in the same way as a free-swinging slugger in baseball approaches hitting- say somebody like Vlad Guerrero. I just write, I don’t think about it and I just let the words spill onto the page. Granted I do go back after and clean up and revise (I can be like Kerouac only so much) but for the most part I just write. The flip side of that are the people who meticulously plan, making numerous outlines and taking exhaustive notes. I would compare them to baseball players like Tony Gwynn or Ted Williams. They spend hours practicing, crafting, going over notes or reviewing film (in the case of Gwynn).
(OK, the baseball analogies will stop. I hope that made sense, even if you aren’t a baseball fan. There are other examples from other sports but I like that one the best)
It’s the difference between the “natural” and the craftsman. That’s not to say that one approach is better than the other, but there are very strong and clear differences between the two.
But because of this, I always worried that my “natural” writing ability would escape me at some point. Because I didn’t know exactly I did that made my writing good, I worried that ability would leave me behind and I wouldn’t know how to get it back or replicate it. I feared something that my high school teacher referred to as a “case of the stupids.” But she also said that such things don’t exist and that’s what I continue to tell myself. I just keep on doing what I do, because it’s taken me pretty far. And I don’t plan on changing for anyone, at least as long as I can help it.
But what about you all? Do you think of yourself as a natural writer, or as a master craftsman and tactician? Do you think I’m slightly crazy? Did this article make any sense? Respond away!
March 5th, 2009 at 4:22 am
I definitely think some are better at writing than others (which could lend itself to the belief that some are naturals) HOWEVER I think even natural writers can grow and be better by having a thorough understanding of the writing process – just as some who writing doesn’t come as naturally may learn to write as well as or better than “naturals.”
Knowing the rules helps you know when to break them. And I think the best writers are probably those with a natural talent who learn to be craftsmen.
March 5th, 2009 at 6:21 am
Thanks for contributing! This post was great. I sort of consider myself a natural writer (though I am a fan of outlines at times!) but I often do worry that one day my writing skills will disappear. It’s unlikely…but you never know. That’s why practice makes perfect
Or close to it.
March 5th, 2009 at 6:21 am
Great post! I enjoyed the baseball analogies.
I would say that my writing is organtic too. I think about what I am going to write and a general beginning, middle and end in my head. Then I just write. I feel as though actually having an outline makes it harder for me to write freely.
March 5th, 2009 at 7:30 am
You’ll have to forgive me, I didn’t quite get the baseball analogy, but I got the general message at heart. If it had been hockey I would have been right there with you…
I love to be crafty. I seriously get a thrill from doing it. I’m not really sure why, but my OCD-self loves to have organization. Organization makes me happy, the kind of happy some people get from chocolate. Whenever I write, I automatically feel the need to organize. This stems from the fact that sometimes my thoughts come all at once, making them impossible to decipher, even for me. So in order to convey them in a sensible manner, I need to have outlines. Once I’m half organized I usually let it flow. Wait, does that mean I’m a hybrid then? Can I be a hybrid?
Anyways, I agree with Daisy, all good writers can benefit from knowing the rules. Though rather than them being rules, I figure them to be more along the line of guidelines. When you need them they are there, and vice versa.
Interesting question you posed though. Looking forward to reading the comments!
March 5th, 2009 at 7:38 am
I’m both a natural and a tactician. It will all depends on what I’m writing and what is inspiring me. If I have a great idea, I just flow. If I have a greater point to prove, I become tactical. This applies to both blogging and academic writings.
March 5th, 2009 at 8:11 am
Thanks for this post!
I find writing much more enjoyable when it is natural, but do write outlines when I write at my job. Personally, outlines were drilled into my head in school, but sometimes they made my writing worse – too dry, too formulaic, etc.
I’m curious, does anyone have a brainstorming/planning process that works well for creative writing (or any writing I suppose) that is quick and less structured than an outline?
March 5th, 2009 at 8:27 am
Hi Erin,
I use clustering techniques sometimes, basically I write a word in the middle of a piece of paper and branch off with things that relate to that topic and then create more branches coming off from that. I don’t think about what I’m doing I just do it as it comes to mind.
For example, if my topic was “trees” (for the sake of using something really simple) I’d branch off with leaves, green, tall etc. and then could continue branching off from leaves to explain the shape and things like that.
I find it really helps me come up with a lot of ideas that weren’t there before. I think it’s really important not to think too much about it though, just do it! Hope that helps
March 5th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
Thanks Amber! I used to spend a few minutes “free-writing,” but I like a mapping approach better. I use a similar idea for brainstorming sometimes, but haven’t really applied it to the writing process. I’ll definitely try that in the future.
March 5th, 2009 at 8:24 am
I’m a bit of both. Sometimes I sit down to write and the words fly out of me. Other times not so much and I need to use outlines to gather my thoughts.
March 5th, 2009 at 8:47 am
Great comments. I was actually surprised at how many of them I could actually relate to. All I can add is that if you have 1,500 words, editing it down to 1,000, and then 750, is a daunting task, but always yields a better product.
March 5th, 2009 at 10:40 am
I loathe outlines, I always have. Never quite saw the point of them. In high school I always wrote my papers and then created an outline when I was done. It was April of my senior year before my teacher caught on and really, what was she going to do by that point?
Even now, while my writing is pretty much just for fun, I can’t use an outline. It constricts me, and I feel such huge pressure to get from point A to point B that it stresses me out and then nothing gets written at all.
March 5th, 2009 at 11:28 pm
I’m totally with you and totally incapable of writing outlines. So much so that, if I know too much about what point B is from point A, I often bungle the whole journey.
March 5th, 2009 at 10:54 am
AWESOME POST!
I feel not so alone anymore with my approach. When given a topic, I write, and write as much as I want. I include things that I know I’ll omit later, just to get them out there – sometimes those things turn into future blogs, etc.
I take the brainstorm full force and just write as if its my final draft, even though I know its not.
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome.
March 5th, 2009 at 11:13 am
http://crayolapen.tumblr.com/post/83851011/an-approach-to-writing
March 5th, 2009 at 2:42 pm
I think we’re all a little bit of both…craftsman and natural writers, but craftsman in the sense that we’ve learned process, either through intention or organically, and so we work within the parameters of the craft itself. Seat of the pantser vs. outliner? I think I’m a little of both of those, too! But the best outline or premise or set up won’t go anywhere if I’m not feeling inspired by it, so I think, ultimately, nature takes over.
I loved your thoughts on this!
March 5th, 2009 at 6:00 pm
Yea! If ever i wrote something that naturally flows out of my hand, it’s because i’m inspired and/or feel strongly about the topic. I am a firm believer of the importance of reading at an early age. It seriously helps to kindle interest and at the same time we are familiarized with the structure of prose.
March 5th, 2009 at 10:23 pm
On Wednesday evening and throughout the day on Thursday, TCM aired Ronald Reagan movies, and I looked up a review on one of them while watching it. I thought that you might enjoy a comment made about writing:
NIGHT UNTO NIGHT (1949)
“…Unfortunately, up to that point you will have to contend with the interminable first two-thirds of the movie, where for endless scene after endless scene you will hear people pontificate ponderous profundities; I swear, each scene of this movie thinks it’s the deepest, most important scene of the movie. I knew this movie was getting to me when I found myself hoping that the Ritz Brothers might come in and lighten up the proceedings. I’m reminded of a writing rule I once heard; when it comes time to edit what you’ve written, find the part you consider the most brilliant, and get rid of it. In this case, it might have involved eradicating about sixty minutes of script, but it would have been the better for it.”