Earlier this week, I talked about a friend who wants to be a better writer in 2023.
Just so you know, this person is a good writer. A great writer, even. She’s focused and interesting, she’s an expert in her field, and she has great habits that keep her writing and publishing on a regular basis.
For a lot of people that would be enough.
But this is what she said (lightly edited because I just gotta be me!).
Dear Julie,
Do you have any recommended resources for getting better at writing? I have lots of topics to write about and I write all the time, but I don’t feel like my skills are improving. I want to improve the mechanics, storytelling, and readability of my work, so I feel I’m getting better and my writing is more enjoyable for my readers.
Thanks,
Your Friend
Mechanics, storytelling, readability…that’s basically the whole f***ing thing, right!?! 😂
But I’ve been turning her question over in my mind. What do you do when you want to get better and you’re not in the sixth grade studying grammar and writing graded essays? What can I say to really help her? And what do I do myself to keep getting better?
How do we improve the mechanics, storytelling, and readability of our writing?
That’s the question I’m going to try and answer in 2023, so here goes.
Rule #1: Be specific.*
Let me tell you a story.
Driving home in the dark the other night, my 11-year-old said, “You know what’s so cool? A turntable. Because then you can listen to albums, and albums are music in its purest form.”
My first thought: marketing works. The resurgence of records and record players is real!
My second thought: I miss my dad.
My dad was a DJ in the late 60s and early 70s, and his original albums (along with his audio system) were one of his prized possessions. The whole set up—a turntable, the amplifier, and another machine I don’t remember the name of—sat in a cabinet in our living room.
We weren’t allowed to touch it.
I told my daughter that he had many albums. “He was very particular,” I continued. “We couldn’t touch anything until we were teenagers. And then only with supervision.”
Then, I texted my mom and sister.
My sister replied, “One of the few things he would get mad at you for: not turning on the left knob and letting the amp “warm up” sufficiently before turning on the right one. I have zero idea what either of those dials actually controlled.”
I instantly imagined those dials. And the heat that came off the machines when they were warm.
My mom added, “Dad watched me like a hawk when I touched a record and put it on the turntable.”
Oh yes he did. I could feel the edge of the album pressed against my palms as I held it so that I didn’t scratch anything. The way my dad, who was otherwise super relaxed, observed from across the room. He never missed a chance to tell us to be more careful.
My description, “very particular,” could mean a million things. But the knobs, the warming up, daring to touch a record, the feeling of being observed. Those specifics say so much more. They present the same experience to the reader in a tactile, sensory way that “very particular” cannot.
Some writers shy away from specifics. They think that tiny, real details might make their work too niche, too inaccessible to the average reader.
I say that specifics make your work too interesting to ignore.
Being specific is a gift to the reader who has never had and might never have the experiences or ideas you have. They bring the story to life. They make magic.
The rewrite
So the next time you write, do this.
Look for one generality. For most people, there will be more than one in a first or even second draft.
Ask yourself, “what do I really mean? What am I really trying to say or describe?”
Cut the vague sentence(s) and rewrite with the exact details (but only the key ones - that’s another post!) that will bring us into the room with you.
Then share your before and after. I can’t wait to see what you write next!
P.S. As to music in its purest form, my sister said, “Can you truly experience music without five foot speakers, laying on the floor with Dad (who, looking back, had probably smoked a doobie)? The best part of that was how the audio was recorded as left and right.”
Double win for her!
*These rules are in no particular order…at least for now.