Come one, come all

And then there were two

I have alluded that there are many incomplete writers out there. Some are a larger work in progress than others. Their experience is limited, either by age or opportunity, but they are developing at their own pace, in their own way.

In some cases, that experience is structured. It could be an assignment for school or work, with varying degrees of flexibility. Maybe they're selecting their own topic, or it's assigned, but any way you slice it, the writer is going to find an angle and make their point.

So, my daughter had this writing assignment for her 11th grade AP English class. She selected one of 5 quotes and had to write a response. Interestingly enough, it's about writing. I wasn't really in the write mode here today anyway, so I figured I'd go with a guest entry (with her approval.) Reformatted to fit on my screen of course.

Submitted for your perusal

Nathaniel Hawthorne, critically acclaimed novelist and now household name, once said “Easy reading is damn hard writing.” After three months of research, all-nighters, and lots of questions I have come to the understanding that he was right all along. The job of a writer is much harder on the inside than it appears to be on the outside to the average reader. The author is put under a lot of pressure to keep their reader interested and involved in their story. While this may seem like a lot of hard work you must remember, diamonds are created under pressure.

A writer has many hard jobs. Writing will never be just sitting down and writing. There are many steps to follow before a piece is completed and written well. A true writer will acknowledge the existence of these steps. In “On Writing Well” Will Zinsser writes, “Good writing has an aliveness that keeps the reader reading from one paragraph to the next…” (Page 5, Paragraph 4). The art of good writing is a hard one to teach but it can surely be learned and absorbed. First although, we must ask ourselves as writers…what is it I’m trying to say here?

In order to keep a reader interested, we must write about something which interests us. It is this which can sometimes limit us, but a good writer can and will find a way around it. Several challenges will come to face a writer. They must be able to navigate through these obstacles in order to write well. The key to writing a good, interesting piece is to live and learn. Our good friend, William Zinsser, writes “Living is the trick…Learning is the tonic.” To knock down these walls we must open ourselves up as writers, sometimes feel free to write about something you’re not necessarily familiar with yet. The key word in that sentence being “yet” because after all, “Learning is the tonic.” Let yourself learn, learning will help reduce your fear of losing the reader to your word and broaden your horizons. In the end, there will be nothing you won’t be able to write about. This although won’t make the process any easier if this is what you were thinking!

In order to write well, a smart writer needs a plan. There is a method to every genre of writing whether it be Fiction or Nonfiction but, it all begins with a plan. The author’s plan is to write for themselves while making it a simply mesmerizing tale for readers. The author must always follow the path of the story they’re telling. In order to make it easier to read for their readers, authors must avoid problems such as clutter and incorrect grammar as well. Throughout the process of planning, writing, and rewriting the author is constantly fighting a war with themselves to prevent the words from taking hold. Through it all, a smart and professional writer can pull a work of art out of thin air.

In conclusion, easy reading is truly hard writing. A lot of hard work and effort goes into making a piece of literature easy to understand and interesting enough for you to pick back up again. Writing well is a hard process but if you are gifted with the talent of writing, take it from William Zinsser and “take your talent as far as you can and guard it with your life.” In the end, you’ll create something truly magical with such a talent and one day all the pressure will have been worth it. Soon you’ll discover that maybe it was you who was the diamond all along and a diamond can’t be broken.

Diamonds are forever

I love the comparison she draws between the creation of good writing and diamonds. Hopefully I can carve out a few gems along my journey. She also admits to her her all-nighters, which I have referenced previously, so now you know I'm not crazy (at least not about that.) I might get crazy later. I don't feel like I have my usual edge because I'm typing this much earlier in the evening, but it's not even close to my bedtime (or the "passed my bedtime" area when I normally write) so I could be back for more fun.

And just to see if my editor is still watching me, I'm going to throw in this ugly morsel of a one sentence paragraph.

Your assignment should you choose to accept it 

Diamonds are created at high temperature and pressure. So I'll turn off the AC and give myself a little assignment to finish by 5 am Sunday morning. Get the creative juices flowing. So, while I gather some of my previous writings, journals, notebooks to rework (and perhaps burn,) I will start some new random entries. My next entry will be a description of a parking lot. Sounds like fun, huh? You are welcome to play along if you want.

Maybe some of these random blurbs will become part of some larger story in the future. For now, I'm just sharing one more piece...of another Incomplete Writer.