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Energize Your Writing And Increase Your Output
Every writer can benefit from a study of the effectiveness of their individual writing process. You can write more and you can write better by making some adjustments in your writing strategy.
Recently one of my writer friends complained about their declining word output.
"I spend more time at the computer than I ever did before and I'm just not producing like I used to," she griped.
After spending a day in writing conferences coaching my struggling novice writers, my response came without conscious thought on my part: "Tell me about your writing process."
"My what?" She asked.
Ah-ha!
I regularly coach my beginning writers about how to develop their own personal writing strategy or process and as a teacher of writing I think about mine quite often, but the more I thought about it the more I realized that experienced, professional writers rarely spend time talking about this critical element.
What a mistake!
It is easy to understand why. Many of us are simply too busy writing to think too much about the actual process. We have deadlines to meet, assignments to pursue, and pitches to create. When we do spend time with other writers our interactions typically fall into three categories--seeking admiration for our success, input for our end product, or escape from writing.
Many writers also take their writing process for granted and simply follow the old adage--if it ain't broke, don't fix it. But what happens when it does break down as it did with my friend? If you don't understand your own writing process then you can't fix it. And just like many of the machines in your life, regular maintenance checks just might prevent a major breakdown in the future.
My friend's problem was easily identified and solved once we actually studied her writing process and writing life. Yes she was spending more time in front of the computer but she had lost a big chunk of her prewriting time due to changes in her home life. Once she understood that problem she was able to make adjustments to her schedule and she is seeing her daily word count rising back to her old levels.
So how is your writing process?
Many writers shy away from the term as it brings back fearful memories of a rigid structure forced on them in school. That is not what I want to talk about at all. Frankly, I always teach my students that there is no such as thing as the writing process.
Don't get me wrong. I believe we each have our own individual writing process, I just don't believe in the one-size-fits-all type strategy that many writers were force-fed. Just think about it. How could there be just one writing process--every writer I know is an individual with various strengths and weaknesses and personality traits. Every writer is wired differently from every other writer. That is one of the things that makes reading such a pleasure. It follows very logically then that every writing process should differ just as every writer differs.
Having said that I should point out that although the actual shape and form of each writing process is individual to the unique writer there are certain constants:
- Generating ideas and choosing a focus
- Organizing those ideas
- Writing
- Revising
- Editing
The amount of time you spend on each stage of the writing process varies according to the writer and the task and this is especially true for me. Many writing tasks are so familiar to me that I spend very little time choosing a focus or organizing my ideas so I can leap write into writing. On the other hand I often generate four or more pages of fiction in about an hour at the computer because I spend a lot of time generating and organizing my ideas before I sit down.
I have spent years honing my personal writing process and know that the step I actually spend the least amount of time is writing. I have learned to let my creative juices flow and not to worry about such petty concerns as grammar, sentence structure, and word choice. I rarely waste a moment on organization or paragraphing. I just let the words flow through my fingerstips until I have emptied my budget. Then I hit save and print, tidy up my papers and set them aside.
Revision is usually the lion's share of my writing process. It may take me two or three drafts to reorganize and shape a piece until I am willing to share it with others. Depending on how difficult and/or complex the subject then I may need to loop back through brainstorming, organizing and writing to improve my project. I may make a few minor adjustments to grammar or spelling or sentence structure, but primarily I concentrate on the larger issues of focus and development and organization.
When I am finally satisfied my article, chapter, or essay is working as a whole then I begin the actual editing process of cleaning up word choice and sentence structure and any other stray problems that have been overlooked. I usually spend only one draft on this actual process.
If you are serious about improving your writing quality and productivity then you need to spend time analyzing your personal writing process. You might be surprised by what you learn--and I know you can put the knowledge to good use.
BONUS : English In The New World
From its early British heritage, the English language has evolved and it will continue to do so as it creeps its way into societies all over the world. The English you know may not be what another person, who lives in another country, knows. Marquez Comelab, author of The Part-Time Currency Trader , explains.
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From its early British heritage, the English language has evolved and it will continue to do so as it creeps its way into societies all over the world. The English you know may not be what another person, who lives in another country, knows. Different countries have developed their own unique way of using English. For example, the Australian English, a dialect I have grown accustomed to, uses the letter u 's in certain words. They use suffixes such as ise instead of ize as well as t instead of ed . Below are some examples of the common differences between how Australians spell words and how these words are spelt elsewhere.
Centre rather than Center
Endeavour rather than Endeavor
Colour instead of Color
Armour instead of Armor
Dreamt instead of Dreamed
Spelt instead of Spelled
Learnt instead of Learned
Jeopardise instead of Jeopardize
Organise instead of Organize
Organisation instead of Organization
When I wrote my book: The Part-Time Currency Trader , I had to think about who my audience was. People who might be interested in this book were not just going to be Australians. In fact, currency trading is big in America , Europe and Asia . I would have to communicate with them as well. Therefore, I had to do a little researching and what I discovered for myself would be relevant to all writers, website owners and anybody who wishes to communicate with the global community and compete internationally.
From its early British heritage, the English language has evolved and it will continue to do so as it creeps its way into societies all over the world. The English you know may not be what another person, who lives in another country, knows. I found it most intriguing that there are so many English dialects.
Below are the types of English dialects (Source: http://www.wikipedia.org):
Types of English that evolved from the British Isles :
English English
Highland English
Mid-Ulster English
Scottish English
Welsh English
Manx English
Irish English
Types of English that evolved from the United States:
AAVE (Ebonics)
American English
Baltimorese
Boston English
California English
General American
North Central American English
Hawaiian English
Southern American English:
Spanglish
Chicano English
Types of English that evolved from Canada :
Canadian English
Newfoundland English
Quebec English
Types of English that evolved in the Oceania :
Australian English
New Zealand English
Types of English that evolved in Asia :
Hong Kong English
Indian English
Malaysian English
Philippine English
Singaporean English
Sri Lankan English
Types of English that evolved in other countries:
Bermudian English
Caribbean English
Jamaican English
Liberian English
Malawian English
South African English
Other Classifications of English:
Basic English
Commonwealth English
Globish
International English
Plain English
Simplified English
Special English
Standard English
With this many types of English to cater for, writing can get complicated, especially when it comes to spelling words. If you are writing a book, people expect you not to make any spelling errors. None of us are perfect and I'm sure there are mistakes in most manuscript or on most websites but the last thing you need as a writer, is that your readers attribute spelling mistakes to you because of these basic differences in English.
If you want to know how I got around this problem, I simply wrote my book in my local dialect, Australian English. Then, I added a page in my book where I explain to the reader the most common differences between the Australian English and the English they may be accustomed to.
I just thought I would let you know and I hope this helps when you are reading or writing.
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About The Author:
Marquez Comelab is the author of the book: The Part-Time Currency Trader . It is a guide for men and women interested in trading currencies in the forex market. Discusses analysis, tools, indicators, trading systems, strategies, discipline and psychology. See: http://marquezcomelab.com. His other articles are also published at http://thefreedomtochoose.com along with other helpful articles.