She uses classes like this to sort of trick people into learning how to draw. Although the assignments are to do silly things like drawing your feet without looking at them or to draw elephants hanging on trees instead of leaves, you are learning to observe more closely and improving your eye hand coordination without even thinking about it. If only exercise, dieting and improving your writing could be so easy…

In doing the exercises, I realized that one of my problems with drawing is also a common problem with writing. I want the picture to be perfect. I want to know where each line should go. I want to know what colors will be put where. I want to know all of what’s going to be included before I get started.
But that’s not how good art work or good stories go. You may have a sense of where you are headed. You may have an idea of what you want to accomplish. You can have an outline, just as you can sketch out the elements of the picture. But it’s okay, and in fact recommended, to get started without being entirely sure of how you will add depth and color.
It’s sort of like having a map or written directions, but understanding that you will need to make adjustments when you actually take the trip. Maybe you find that a street has been closed down or that your map instructs you to go up a wrong way. Maybe you see a Blue Jay in a tree down the street in the opposite direction and you want to get a closer look.
Another thing about drawing is that a picture can look pretty boring and sometimes downright ugly on its way to being beautiful. Same thing with writing. This is where practice and skill come in. This isn’t about raw talent. It’s about learning tips and tricks to take something that is dull and lifeless and to add some color or some more lines or some layers until it pops off the page.
So, if you don’t know exactly where something is going, don’t feel intimidated – it’s normal. Do not let it stop you from getting started.

When this happens and you can’t or don’t want to put off the writing, steal a technique from the art world and start doodling. To warm up or to get themselves moving, some artists will scribble, draw circles or just push a pencil around the page. What does that look like for writers?

Maybe like this: alkdjfjjjfkdmmmksuujs;llaoelli0oe3rlkfdjmmm,mm,mdfsfajjjekwdjfjkfdjkkjfdslkjfdslkjlkjslkjfdsalkjfdsalkjfdsfdsalkjakjfdslkj,m,mvcx,mvcxkjj

jfdsjkjkjlfdsjkjfdjfdslkj–

The next step would be slightly more directed but still somewhat random:

black computer, blue pen, blank brain, must write, who cares, who wants to know what.

In the doodlings and ramblings, you may start to see ideas. You may see the pieces of the story emerging and start to feel the connections. Or maybe you’ll just loosen up a bit and relax.  Or maybe you won’t feel like you’ve gotten anywhere, but at least you won’t be full from eating too much ice cream. Have fun with it.

This is the million dollar question that you need to ask yourself whenever you write. Why am I writing this blog? Why am I writing this newsletter? Why am I writing this poem, book, letter?

There are two important reasons to ask the question. The first is that the answer will give you the motivation to write. If this is what you’ve determined you need to do to build your business, well then get writing. If you know a letter will make someone happy, get writing. If you don’t have a good answer for the “why” question, then maybe you are trying to do something you either shouldn’t or don’t need to do.

The second reason is that the answer to the why can help you figure out the content. Are you trying to connect with customers? What do they need to hear? Are you trying to get volunteers to pick up Girl Scout Cookies? What’s going to motivate them?

Well, why am I running so far? Isn’t it obvious? So I will have something to write about. That and I have been led to believe that it will keep me healthy.

I am not a “runner.” Historically, I have not liked running much, although I have run off and on again over the years. I did it mostly because I knew I should to get/stay fit. I never had high aspirations, however. Mostly, I was just happy to run for 20 or 30 minutes. It was a major deal when I signed up for my first 5k. Three miles seemed like a huge distance. And it is. Or was.

Last year, a friend invited me to run a half-marathon in California. Of course I turned her down. Although I like my friend a lot, running for more than two hours is just plain unnecessary torture. Something happened, however, as I virtually watched her progress. She made it seem so possible and maybe not so horrible, and maybe even a little enjoyable. So when another friend invited me to run a half-marathon in Quincy, I heard myself saying, “Sure.” The part of me that wasn’t speaking was quite appalled and started to think of excuses, but that’s the part that sometimes needs to be ignored.

Running seven miles gives you a lot of time to think – especially if you’re me and running at a ridiculously slow pace. I realized as I ran past the three mile mark, how easy that part of the run had been. It would have been hard to convince me two years ago that running three miles could ever be easy and yet, it was sort of like a walk around the blog. (okay, that is a bit of an exaggeration)

Here’s the relevant insight – it’s like this with writing. Maybe it seems like a chore. Maybe you feel like you’re only doing it because you have to. Maybe you like to write but you are in a rut.

You want to get better? Then set a wild goal and push yourself to make it. Plan on writing a book. Start a blog. Write an article to send to a newspaper or magazine. Find something that feels just about out of your reach. Once you write more than you think you can, writing less will seem easy. I’m talking about quantity. I’s not that quality isn’t important – in the end, this will matter above all. In this case, however, quantity will lead to quality.

When you run a long distance, you are strengthening your muscles, increasing your lung capacity and naturally improving your stride. It’s the same thing with writing. The more you write, the more natural it will become.

I learned this as a participant in the Nanowrimo – the National Novel Writers Month, a challenge to write a 50,000 word novel in November. I’m not a fiction writer. I’m not a novelist. Or at least I wasn’t any more than I am a half-marathoner. My novels are sloppy, unpolished messes, but there are stories and characters with which I can work later. More importantly, I learned to write fast without letting perfection become a road block.

The Power of Words

This was sent to me by a blogging colleague and author of the insightful “Not Running a Hospital” (who ironically had not seen yesterday’s post).

These are just words, but they evoke strong images and jumpstart your imagination. Even without further description, your mind has a sense of what we are talking about and what could come next. Of course, you’ve heard these words and they represent a familiar story line.* But the reason, these words can so instantly bring to mind those stories is that they were so well chosen.

“Flying man who is very strong” or “group of people with special powers who uphold the law” are just as accurate and perhaps a bit more descriptive, but they certainly don’t grab you and make you pay attention.

Certainly, the sentences and the paragraphs are important. They put the words into context and allow you to explain exactly what you mean. But the right words will grab your readers attention and run around in their heads long after they’re done reading.

Collect words. This is the first step in using them better. Keep a list of the ones you like. Think about how they sound and the images they conjure. Use them carefully and intentionally to inspire, excite and motivate your readers.

Try using words as a short hand for or instead of New Year’s resolutions. What do you want this year to be? Fun? Organized? Happy? Productive? Creative? Prosperous?

How about all of that and more?

*with the potential exception of skunk girl – this is the superhero name adopted by my youngest when she was four – her primary super power is, as the name suggests, to emit an overpowering knock-out odor. She can also fly and can become invisible.

When it comes to losing weight, there is a simple formula: eat less, exercise more. It may be simple, but that doesn’t make it easy.

Fortunately, the simple formula for writing better is much easier to follow: Write more, read more.

The writing more gets plenty of attention, but reading more is just as important and maybe a little easier. It’s not really how much you read or even what you read, it’s how you read. As you read, pay attention to the words, the sentence structure, the paragraphs. What draws you into the store and holds your interest? What makes you stop reading? If you find a piece boring, think about why.

As you pay attention to what you like and don’t like, you will find this influences your writing. You will naturally pick up the things you find appealing and avoid the things you don’t.

It makes sense to read pieces similar to what you want to write, but you can learn from all types of writing. A funny essay might have some tricks to spice up a boring business letter, and a boring business letter just might have some fodder for a funny essay.

What is it with grandmas and dresses?

One of the best worst Christmas presents I ever received was a yellow dress, given to me by my grandmother when I was about 8.

I suppose it was pretty enough despite the square neck and puffy sleeves, but I hated it as soon as I opened the box. I didn’t wear dresses. At all. Ever. I was a strictly jeans and cowboy boots sort of kid. Not only that, all of my cousins – there were a lot of us – got $5 and pencils with their names on them. To me, this was way better than a stupid dress.

To make matters worse, I had not yet learned that all important skill of diplomacy and sparing a gift givers feelings. I don’t remember exactly what I said but I know from the reaction that I was pretty honest in expressing my feelings about the whole issue.

I decided recently that I wanted to write a story about this dress for my first grade Sunday School class, only I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to say. What would the point of the story be?

Sometimes it seems obvious – there’s a problem, you found a way to solve it. But even then, there may be other levels to explore.

Is this a humorous story about an out-of-touch grandma? Is it a cautionary tale about ungrateful children? Is it a heart-warming story about a little girl who loved her grandma so much she wore the ugly dress for class pictures that year?

Even if you think you know what you want to say about something, it’s worth poking at it a bit more to see if there is another way to go about it.

After all my meandering about the subject, this is what I think about that present: It’s become one of my favorite, and not because I ever fell in love with the dress, although I really did wear it for my class picture. Rather, it’s that this is a present I remember, and every time I do, I remember the giver, and she’s worth remembering. I’ve also decided that she must have seen me as a pretty little girl who would look cute in a dress, and sometimes it helps to look at your self through the eyes of others.

This little trick can be used when you are first getting started, as well as when you are moving along. You could even take this literally and write in a question/answer format.

Does that really work? It can be extremely effective because the reader knows exactly what to expect.

Is it hard to do? Generally, no. On the contrary, it can help focus your thinking.

Is it effective? Certainly, if you ask the right questions. It’s a very clear and uncluttered way to tell people exactly what you think they need to know.

A Limerick is a five line poem written with one in which the first, second and fifth lines rhyme and the second and third lines rhyme. There is a certain rhythm too. They are generally meant to be funny.

There once was a writer named Jen
Who thought she was good with a pen
She tried to write a limerick
It sounded like a gimmick
Now she’s stuck trying again and again

Haiku is a short form of Japanese poetry with three phrases of five, seven and five syllables. (Although Wikipedia says they are “on” which is not the same thing as syllables). Also according to Wikipedia, there are some other restrictions about the juxtaposition of two images or ideas and a cutting word between them and including a seasonal word. I confess that my attempts at this do not follow this strict definition, yet.

Blank page beckons pen
Words flow easily with grace
Wind shifts mind goes blank