What helps you be a better creative writer?
Written by Verne on August 8th, 2007On any given day, I write a lot. From well-crafted emails to strategic creative briefs to catchy marketing copy and taglines, writing happens to be a big part of my life, and thankfully, one aspect that I also thoroughly enjoy. However, authoring creativebriefing.com is really my first attempt at free-form creative writing.
What I’ve learned throughout this process is that writing for yourself and writing for an audience is very different. What’s more, I’ve learned that writing for email recipients, designers, consumers, and blog readers are all very distinctly unique arts as well.
So my question to everyone is this: what helps you be a better creative writer? I’d really be interested in reading about the things that have helped you craft the written masterpieces that continue to entertain and inspire your readers (whether it be for your blog or some other medium).
I’ve come across a handful of exceptional writing and I’ve been fortunate enough to even know a few exceptional writers (to name a few: Gizelle Lau, Satish Kanwar, Andrew Peek). It’s time to share your secrets!
My prescription? Read. A lot.
What’s yours?
If I get enough responses I’ll consolidate everything into a nice and friendly list, so comment away!
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This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 8th, 2007 at 12:30 pm and is filed under randomness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Andrew Peek
August 8th, 2007 at 2:15 pmFor me, this question is easy. I write like I speak and I speak like I am. There is a consistency that I like to maintain in everything I do. At the end of the day, I want people to say “Man, that is so typical Andrew.”
There is also a balance that exists. When I’m not writing for myself, I have to take “me” completely out of the picture. I have to be the company, be the client, be the partner. In this respect, you have to be a very good listener because sometimes you find yourself having to ‘get to know’ someone in a very short time. In that short time you have to appreciate them, understand them and subsequenly care about what they care about.
It’s a lifelong process. And in parting I’ll say that the only way to get great is to invite criticism. I’ve been fortunate - nay-sayers have always motivated me to work harder and smarter.
Satish
August 8th, 2007 at 4:13 pmJust to comment on Andrew’s point above - you nailed it buddy, I can pretty quickly point something out as being typical you or your style. Case in point the content on the refreshed portal of the interactive agency your working with.
To answer your question Verne, there’s a few things I do when I write:
- Touche, I read… a lot x10. I think, counting my daily reading habits since RSShood in January, I’ve read over 20/30 thousand articles in 2007. As I read I pick up on little quirky elements and writing styles of others that I adapt. Jargon/wording as well for the blogosphere.
- I want to keep people entertained. If you see some of my real blog posts you’ll know what I mean. I like to give it the full 360 treatment - from preamble to personal close-off. I only want to write stuff that I think I would actually read myself if I ran into.. and I give it that quality assurance check every time.
- On that note, the visuals you associate with your writing are just as important as the writing itself. I’m trying more and more to master the art of putting in an image that will speak “1000 words” for me. Less writing, same point = better for me.
- Fresh air or a Seinfeld episode. Creative writing comes with lots of creative blocks, and either of those 2 remedies (whatever’s closer) usually breaks me out of mine. I need time to wander aimlessly and just clear my head to focus on what I’m trying to say, or watch a good’ol Seinfeld episode to laugh onto my next paragraph.
But as already mentioned, writing well is a process only made perfect with practice. Managing 5 e-mail accounts helps you get that practice, and so does writing a blog ;).
Verne
August 8th, 2007 at 4:57 pmThanks for the thorough insight guys!
Andrew, your writing style is definitely iconic; there’s been more than one occasion where I’ve said the phrase “that’s so Andrew.” What you’ve done is created a brand for your writing - that’s something that not many people (or even companies) can do.
Satish, your RSShood has inspired me to be a RSS junkie as well (I plan on doing a follow-up post to share some of my favourite ‘fixes’ soon). And I like your 360 approach - quite simply, it works. Everything from the preamble to the personal close-off is what separates a blog from the news and what draws in your readers.
Your reference to Seinfeld also brought up a good thought - inspiration. So let me tag one more question to the one above for everyone:
As a creative writer, what are some of your inspirations?
Kyle
August 10th, 2007 at 1:09 amFor me, like you mention towards the end, its reading more. Whenever I had a massive paper in college to write, I would read a good book the week before and gear up. For me it was F.Scott Fitzgerald, Hemingway and Rushdie (especially Midnight’s Children). Those kinds of books always seemed to open the flood gates and make it easier for me to just keep the flow going until next thing I knew, I had an amazing piece.
And I too am an RSS junkie. I use outlook and it brings little presents to my inbox everday.
Verne
August 10th, 2007 at 1:38 amAll hail RSS feeds! Where would we be without them? (Doing something more productive, probably)
The other thing I’ve found to be helpful in building my creative writing skills is to write more. It seems intuitive yet somewhat funny at the same time to say that writing more helps you write better, but it’s true. Dive head first into it and you’ll pick up new lessons after every piece.
And plus, using tools like blogs to help develop your writing is a great way to learn from mistakes. Blogs tend to be quite forgiving. :)
giz lau
August 10th, 2007 at 11:28 pmhonestly? i think philosophy at u of t trained me - to get an injection of 2-3 doses of espresso style coffee, and wait until 4am, until something “hits.” whether it’s need the right lyrics for the right song, the right chords, or — the right blog topic.
but i like what andrew said — it’s about writing how you talk, writing from who you are.
on a blog, sometimes i’ll often go days and days unless there’s something really worthwhile to say. sometimes it’s figuring out exactly that - what’s worth saying. is it worth for someone to read, to spend their time on? that i had pizza for lunch today — a little less contributing to their lives than — say, i went to grange park today and was caught by 10-15 kids, playing in the wading pool, but what hit me about these kids was that - underneath all my stress, all my worries, it suddenly all didn’t really matter :) i *almost* went into the wading pool, too, except that some were wearing diapers IN the pool, and some weren’t wearing anything at all because they took OFF their diapers (hence, not potty trained, eeeuuuugh, so gross, lol) so they could go play ;)
at work, writing articles, sometimes deadlines don’t give you the room to “let it come to you” - i.e. at 4am - but the realization alone that you need to produce, will force you to produce. but even in the insurance world, i find that there are still ways to have fun and be creative - no matter what corporate america has to say :) check it out: http://www.kanetix.ca/average-car-insurance
Verne
August 10th, 2007 at 11:41 pmI think the very consideration of whether your writing holds any value for anyone else is what differentiates writing for an audience from writing for yourself.
I know what you mean when you talk about letting it come to you - whatever ‘it’ is. The irony is that ‘it’ always hits when you don’t need it, and ‘it’ is always absent when you do… say, when you’re in the middle of writing a philosophy paper for a course you swear somebody labelled as a ‘bird course’. C’est la vie, right?
Gizelle - don’t think you’re off the hook. I’d still love for you to shed some light on what exactly being an internet marketing writer entails! ;D