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Learning to write with style, which takes not less than 10 years of practice. It gives you amazing satisfaction. You feel the power of your words. All sorts of
by enviclash 4y ago
Learning to write with style, which takes not less than 10 years of practice. It gives you amazing satisfaction. You feel the power of your words. All sorts of people at work and outside respect you for it. Not sure it is for everyone, I started learning from a prized author in my family, not sure everyone can find a way into it, either.
- kkielhofner 4y agoSimilar situation - my dad was a renowned academic writer and it definitely helps to have someone like that around from the time you're writing fourth grade book reports. In the event you're not fortunate to be in that situation from such an early age my general suggestions on writing: - Write well. Obvious things like vocabulary, punctuation, etc. - Possibly most important: write similarly to how you speak. Writing is pretty subjective and will never be perfect but in my experience it's much better to write with your own "voice" even if it's far from perfect than stick to some rigid style taught/learned/imposed elsewhere. Assuming you'll also be actually talking with the reader at some point it comes across as much more genuine (because it is) and helps in forging real connections with people. - Vocabulary. This one is tough... There's a fine line between sounding intelligent and educated vs sounding pompous. Intelligent and educated vocabulary builds respect and credibility but if you go too far and use "hundred dollar words" it often comes across as arrogant and alienates people. A good rule of thumb is to use more obscure "hundred dollar words" sparingly and only when you need to communicate a very specific meaning. If you throw more than one or two in a sentence there's a good chance you'll lose most people.
- enviclash 4y agoThanks for the insights. To your suggestions I would just add reading a lot and varied across times and genres. Think of the Greek classics, the Latin Americans starting from Rulfo, to anything contemporary. Having your own voice to write must be a privilege, I am not lucky yet on that skill, I hope to find my way. How would you recommend to learn it?
- kkielhofner 4y agoWriting in your own voice isn’t a privilege and is barely a skill in my view. Put simply, write approximately how you speak. In speaking to someone they should find consistency between what they hear and what they read.
- enviclash 4y agoIt happens often that when someone has a great skill they find it a very natural thing. In my humble opinion it is a gift