Satyros, posted Leah Webb earlier this morning, you seem to be an eloquent and prolific writer. Any techniques you could share? And once Id written out a response to her, I thought other folks might enjoy it too: _______________________________________ Thank you, Leah. Well, part of it is just innate. I have always had a very active imagination and a sense for putting words together well. Most of it, though, is cultivated by... * Lots of reading. I mean, LOTS. Im a compulsive reader, I read everything from blogs to box-labels to novels to academic work, and Im always analyzing what makes something work or not-work in the transition between the page and my mind. That reading also informs my perception of how words fit together in different ways for differing effects. And from there, I reverse-engineer those different communication modes to see how they work. * I also listen to other people, pay attention to how we communicate with one another, and see what new things I can learn from that. This is an especially helpful trick when writing dialog. * I watch how living things communicate with their world as well. You can learn volumes from the body-language of a cat, a person, or even a tree under various circumstances. * When I catch myself writing a cliche, I stop, think of a more creative way to say the same thing, and use THAT instead. * My sensory-processing conditions (dyslexia and dyscalculia, plus perhaps a touch of Aspergers) help me, oddly enough, with the eloquence you mentioned. Because I have to WORK at understanding and interpreting my perceptions, Ive developed an unusually acute sense of the deeper levels of whats going on around me and inside me. * On a related note, my dyslexia also warps phrases in interesting ways. I often use those altered phrases in my work. For example, my brain warped the phrase a mysterious thunder into I come to you as thunder. That second phrase is now the title of a novel-in-progress. * Im also a very passionate person, and I believe in - and feel deeply about - the things I write. I leaned a long time ago that I suck at bullshitting; if I dont believe in what Im writing, then my writing sucks. Those convictions inspire the things I write, and they also force me to FIND things to believe in when Im writing a hired piece for someone else. * Language and other forms of communication fascinate me, and so Im always examining the ways in which being communicate with one another (see above), and then seeing what I can learn from those communications. Thats also something that inspires my political passions too: I see messages being passed around through society and media, and I strive to bring those observations to the attention of other people. * My artistic and spiritual paths also inspire my writing, and my life in general. For me personally, I want to inspire people to WANT better and BE better than we would be otherwise. And so, I use my eloquence to get people to look beyond the obvious elements of our surroundings, to view themselves and other beings as worthy of respect and empathy, and to strive to be better than the dysfunctional and self-destructive ape-kin that we are. * Beyond all of THAT, I also have some writerly advice. Enjoy! satyrosphilbrucato.wordpress/2013/09/11/some-writerly-advice-the-four-questions-approach/
Posted on: Sun, 09 Nov 2014 16:32:47 +0000
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