,
29 tweets,
11 min read
//THREAD\\ In which we discuss how to develop your talent as a #writer Part 2
(vital for all #writinglife #amwriting people, but applicable to anyone wishing to improve at a skill)
CC @pathtomanliness @AJA_cortes @CraigJamesTFA @samuelthews
H/T to @tellyousonthis
(vital for all #writinglife #amwriting people, but applicable to anyone wishing to improve at a skill)
CC @pathtomanliness @AJA_cortes @CraigJamesTFA @samuelthews
H/T to @tellyousonthis
This is day two of our analysis of our application of the lessons from Daniel Coyle’s work on talent to the discipline of #writing.
(Aspects of his number system are not relevant & will be marked N/A.)
Click link for day 1
On with the show...
threadreaderapp.com/user/thomasjbe…
(Aspects of his number system are not relevant & will be marked N/A.)
Click link for day 1
On with the show...
threadreaderapp.com/user/thomasjbe…
13/ Find the Sweet Spot
The sweet spot is where you learn best and fastest. It is a zone right on the edge of your ability.
It is one of three zones:
Comfort Zone
Sensation: ease, effortlessness. No struggle.
80%+ of attempts are successful
The sweet spot is where you learn best and fastest. It is a zone right on the edge of your ability.
It is one of three zones:
Comfort Zone
Sensation: ease, effortlessness. No struggle.
80%+ of attempts are successful
Sweet Spot
Sensation: frustration, difficulty, aware of errors.
Fully engaged in intense struggle. Reaching for goal with everything you have and brushing it with fingertips, then reaching again.
50-80% of attempts are successful
This is where you want to be. And not in...
Sensation: frustration, difficulty, aware of errors.
Fully engaged in intense struggle. Reaching for goal with everything you have and brushing it with fingertips, then reaching again.
50-80% of attempts are successful
This is where you want to be. And not in...
Survival Zone
Sensation: confusion, desperation. Scrambling & guessing. When you're right it's mostly due to luck
<50% of attempts succeed
Einstein: 'One must develop an instinct for what one can just barely achieve through one's greatest effort'
^This is the sweet spot
Sensation: confusion, desperation. Scrambling & guessing. When you're right it's mostly due to luck
<50% of attempts succeed
Einstein: 'One must develop an instinct for what one can just barely achieve through one's greatest effort'
^This is the sweet spot
14/ Take Off Your Watch
The idea behind this is to count reps rather than time.
However, for #writing I think that time at the desk is a better variable than word count
Quality of words usually goes down when someone sets a hard target of reaching say 1000 in a day
Therefore
The idea behind this is to count reps rather than time.
However, for #writing I think that time at the desk is a better variable than word count
Quality of words usually goes down when someone sets a hard target of reaching say 1000 in a day
Therefore
Set an alarm while you write
(any more than 4 hours in a day will lead to seriously diminishing returns in my experience)
But ignore all clocks while you are typing.
Full screen word processor, clocks turned around etc.
Creativity is not an exam. Don't clockwatch...
(any more than 4 hours in a day will lead to seriously diminishing returns in my experience)
But ignore all clocks while you are typing.
Full screen word processor, clocks turned around etc.
Creativity is not an exam. Don't clockwatch...
15/Break every move down into chunks
Think off your great story as a whole. Then ask:
a) What is the smallest single element of the skill I can master?
For #writing this incs. dialogue, pacing, capping off a scene, description &c 1000 things
Naturally more proficient at some
Think off your great story as a whole. Then ask:
a) What is the smallest single element of the skill I can master?
For #writing this incs. dialogue, pacing, capping off a scene, description &c 1000 things
Naturally more proficient at some
b) What other chunks link to that chunk?
(hint- they are all interrelated)
Practice one chunk by itself until you are good at it and then combine more chunks one by one.
Dialogue combines with pacing combines with plotting combines with theme etc.
Form connections...
(hint- they are all interrelated)
Practice one chunk by itself until you are good at it and then combine more chunks one by one.
Dialogue combines with pacing combines with plotting combines with theme etc.
Form connections...
16/ Each Day, try to build one perfect chunk
A daily SAP: Small, achievable perfection.
Unlike other skills this is virtually impossible to define in terms of writing.
But it is still a handy idea to keep in mind as an ideal.
A daily SAP: Small, achievable perfection.
Unlike other skills this is virtually impossible to define in terms of writing.
But it is still a handy idea to keep in mind as an ideal.
17/ Embrace Struggle.
It's an instinct built into most of us to avoid the uncomfortable nature of struggle.
But it is vital
Strengthening the brain is like strengthening a muscle
No pain, no gain
It is better to accept this rather than expect your prose to flow effortlessly
It's an instinct built into most of us to avoid the uncomfortable nature of struggle.
But it is vital
Strengthening the brain is like strengthening a muscle
No pain, no gain
It is better to accept this rather than expect your prose to flow effortlessly
18/ Choose Five Minutes a day Over an Hour a Week
Possibly one of the most important tips of all.
Consistency is absolutely key to developing as a writer.
It seems to conform more to the
Kaizen rule of 1% daily improvement= massive dividends
than almost anything else.
Possibly one of the most important tips of all.
Consistency is absolutely key to developing as a writer.
It seems to conform more to the
Kaizen rule of 1% daily improvement= massive dividends
than almost anything else.
19/ Don't do 'Drills' Instead Play Small, Addictive Games
For the writer this would take the form of #poetry
Forcing yourself to use certain words and certain rhythms and meters improves your general facility with words massively over time.
Also an excellent way to boost vocab
For the writer this would take the form of #poetry
Forcing yourself to use certain words and certain rhythms and meters improves your general facility with words massively over time.
Also an excellent way to boost vocab
21/ Think in Images.
The idea here is to create metaphors for the effects you want each 'chunk' (i.e subskill) of your writing to have.
For example I always think of writing in terms of music
And focus heavily on the rhythm of the scene and dialogue.
Your metaphors may differ
The idea here is to create metaphors for the effects you want each 'chunk' (i.e subskill) of your writing to have.
For example I always think of writing in terms of music
And focus heavily on the rhythm of the scene and dialogue.
Your metaphors may differ
22/ Pay Attention Immediately After You Make A Mistake.
(And I don't mean a spelling mistake, because if you're like me this would paralyse you)
If you condition yourself to attend to errors right away you can learn from them.
If you don't you may well reinforce bad habits...
(And I don't mean a spelling mistake, because if you're like me this would paralyse you)
If you condition yourself to attend to errors right away you can learn from them.
If you don't you may well reinforce bad habits...
Journaling can be a good way to do this.
After your writing day is done just take a few minutes to jot down what you did-
What you were aiming to do with the scene
What went right
What didn't
Things to do tomorrow
Few will do this.
But I swear that it cures 'writers block'
After your writing day is done just take a few minutes to jot down what you did-
What you were aiming to do with the scene
What went right
What didn't
Things to do tomorrow
Few will do this.
But I swear that it cures 'writers block'
23/ Visualise the wires of your brain forming new connections
Paying attention to mistakes &fixing them will form more of the *right* connections in yr brain
Visualise the process like this as a mistake happens so that you seem a mistake for what it is: a tool that builds skill
Paying attention to mistakes &fixing them will form more of the *right* connections in yr brain
Visualise the process like this as a mistake happens so that you seem a mistake for what it is: a tool that builds skill
24/ Visualise the Wire of your brain getting faster
A nuance on point 23 above.
Self-explanatory. Just interpret the slight headache of effort as your brain growing stronger and faster.
Because that *is* what happens when you devote all of your efforts to improving yr writing
A nuance on point 23 above.
Self-explanatory. Just interpret the slight headache of effort as your brain growing stronger and faster.
Because that *is* what happens when you devote all of your efforts to improving yr writing
25/ Shrink The Space
For writers this includes things like the formal restrictions of poetry and #haiku
In this vein, Twitter is also a good medium to hone your writing skills.
(Some fools even take what should be giant blog posts and turn them into a long series of tweets!)
For writers this includes things like the formal restrictions of poetry and #haiku
In this vein, Twitter is also a good medium to hone your writing skills.
(Some fools even take what should be giant blog posts and turn them into a long series of tweets!)
26/ Slow it Down (Even Slower than you think)
Speed often creates sloppiness. Precision is often traded for the satisfaction of hammering out a draft as quickly as possible
I don't buy the 'shitty first draft' cliche
Yes, your first draft will need an awful lot of work but...
Speed often creates sloppiness. Precision is often traded for the satisfaction of hammering out a draft as quickly as possible
I don't buy the 'shitty first draft' cliche
Yes, your first draft will need an awful lot of work but...
Why would you label something as 'shitty' before you begin?
I've never understood this
A newly formed squad of football players don't all collectively accept they are going to have a 'shitty first game' because they haven't had time to gel yet.
Your metaphors & mindset matters
I've never understood this
A newly formed squad of football players don't all collectively accept they are going to have a 'shitty first game' because they haven't had time to gel yet.
Your metaphors & mindset matters
27/ Close your eyes
This removes distraction and engages the other senses.
If within a scene you are describing a non-visual sensory experience
(& you should be doing this all the time- E.g. One thing that makes Orwell powerful is his acute sense of smell)
Close your eyes.
This removes distraction and engages the other senses.
If within a scene you are describing a non-visual sensory experience
(& you should be doing this all the time- E.g. One thing that makes Orwell powerful is his acute sense of smell)
Close your eyes.
28/ Mime It
You write alone (presumably). No one can see you.
So move around, pace, and perform the action you are trying to describe if you cannot visualise it in sufficient detail.
This works. If you can see it, and then write it clearly, then the audience will see it
You write alone (presumably). No one can see you.
So move around, pace, and perform the action you are trying to describe if you cannot visualise it in sufficient detail.
This works. If you can see it, and then write it clearly, then the audience will see it
29/ When You Get It Right, Mark The Spot
This goes back to the idea of journaling about the writing process. When you get it right, record it.
This is the new start line for perfecting the skill.
'Practice *begins* when you get it right.'
It's a process of refining skills
This goes back to the idea of journaling about the writing process. When you get it right, record it.
This is the new start line for perfecting the skill.
'Practice *begins* when you get it right.'
It's a process of refining skills
30/ Take a Nap
Napping= good for the brain. Connections formed during writing session will strengthen as u sleep
In an ideal world you would write all morning and take a quick lunchtime nap
But whatever yr routine remember that the sleeping brain will work on what you tell it
Napping= good for the brain. Connections formed during writing session will strengthen as u sleep
In an ideal world you would write all morning and take a quick lunchtime nap
But whatever yr routine remember that the sleeping brain will work on what you tell it
*That's it for part 2*
Well done if you made it this far!
RT this thread & tell all of yr #amwriting friends to follow along& learn
(#NaNoWriMo is coming up & people need help)
Also S/O to @TellYourSonThis (whose handle I screwed up at the start here) for the support
Plus
Well done if you made it this far!
RT this thread & tell all of yr #amwriting friends to follow along& learn
(#NaNoWriMo is coming up & people need help)
Also S/O to @TellYourSonThis (whose handle I screwed up at the start here) for the support
Plus
Here's an obligatory plug for @StoicGoatFarmer #99things book, which I feature in alongside such amazing contributors as:
@SteafanFox
@ryanstephens
@startupdaemon
@JamesClear (whose Atomic Habits is out soon)
@drbabelovelife
@HunterDrewTFA
@PaulMDomenick
And many more...
@SteafanFox
@ryanstephens
@startupdaemon
@JamesClear (whose Atomic Habits is out soon)
@drbabelovelife
@HunterDrewTFA
@PaulMDomenick
And many more...
@threadreaderapp unroll
Missing some Tweet in this thread?
You can try to force a refresh.
You can try to force a refresh.