BEST WRITING TIP . . . EVER. From Bob Bly
Dear Direct Response Letter Subscriber:
I was thinking about it the other day, and I reached the
conclusion that the #1 difference between good writers and amateurs is as follows....
Many writers who are amateur, mediocre, bad, or just not worth reading write mostly about their personal opinions, thoughts, stream of consciousness, and feelings - in other words, whatever bubbles into their minds.
This is why so many blogs are utter crap: Bloggers can write whatever they want. There is no publisher or editor to say, "Hey, this isn't good - don't publish this!" Indeed, they can and often do publish everything that pops into their head. Exceptions? Of course.
Good writers - those worth reading - have something unique, valuable, or useful to say. And what they say is not just whatever they think. It is a distillation of wisdom produced by experience, observation, study, and activity.
In other words, good writers are good because they know something and can offer value by sharing it with their readers.
Average or bad writers don't really know anything, and so their writing is vacuous, without valuable or hard-won ideas, wisdom, or knowledge.
"Write what you know" is old advice. The problem is a lot of people who write don't know anything - or at least do not know anything that other people also want to know. And so they have nothing to write about.
Therefore it follows that if you want to be a good writer instead of an average or bad writer, you must gain knowledge, wisdom, or experience - so you have something of value and interest to write about other than your feelings and thoughts.
Here are some suggestions for acquiring the base of knowledge that can transform your writing from low value to high value:
1) Read widely and constantly. As insurance billionaire Arthur Williams (better known as A.L. Williams) once observed, most of humankind's knowledge can be found in books.
2) At work or in your personal life, take on a difficult task or project that no one else wants to do. If you succeed, you can write your own ticket selling your expertise to others both in your writings and as a consulting service.
Example: My old college friend EG led his company in an early SAP (software) implementation and then made a handsome living as a SAP expert.
3) Have more experiences. Instead of watching TV, be on the board of a nonprofit like my colleague BK, or buy and run a bar like my writer friend CF. Or be like my friend DY who built a shack in the middle of the woods, lived there for a year, and then wrote a novel about it. The more you do, the more you have to write about.
4) Associate with successful people. Soak up their knowledge and experience. Ask questions to find out what they know that others don't. Then distill what you learn and pass it on to your readers.
5) Take or teach a course.
For instance, in my early days in NYC, I took some Learning Annex courses on various career options such as music and business. I then wrote about what I learned in my John Wiley & Sons (their site here) book Dream Jobs: a Guide to Tomorrow's Top Careers.
I had been a technical writer at Westinghouse in Baltimore, and when I moved to NYC, I taught a technical writing course at New York University. The course became the basis for my McGraw-Hill book The Elements of Technical Writing, which I wrote in 1981 and is still in print today.
Nicholas Baker: "If you think your writing furthers life or truth in some way, then you keep writing. But if that feeling stops, you have to find something else to do."
Sincerely,
Bob Bly
Copywriter / Consultant
31 Cheyenne Dr.
Montville, NJ 07045
Phone 973-263-0562
Fax 973-263-0613
www.bly.com
Dear Direct Response Letter Subscriber:
I was thinking about it the other day, and I reached the
conclusion that the #1 difference between good writers and amateurs is as follows....
Many writers who are amateur, mediocre, bad, or just not worth reading write mostly about their personal opinions, thoughts, stream of consciousness, and feelings - in other words, whatever bubbles into their minds.
This is why so many blogs are utter crap: Bloggers can write whatever they want. There is no publisher or editor to say, "Hey, this isn't good - don't publish this!" Indeed, they can and often do publish everything that pops into their head. Exceptions? Of course.
Good writers - those worth reading - have something unique, valuable, or useful to say. And what they say is not just whatever they think. It is a distillation of wisdom produced by experience, observation, study, and activity.
In other words, good writers are good because they know something and can offer value by sharing it with their readers.
Average or bad writers don't really know anything, and so their writing is vacuous, without valuable or hard-won ideas, wisdom, or knowledge.
"Write what you know" is old advice. The problem is a lot of people who write don't know anything - or at least do not know anything that other people also want to know. And so they have nothing to write about.
Therefore it follows that if you want to be a good writer instead of an average or bad writer, you must gain knowledge, wisdom, or experience - so you have something of value and interest to write about other than your feelings and thoughts.
Here are some suggestions for acquiring the base of knowledge that can transform your writing from low value to high value:
1) Read widely and constantly. As insurance billionaire Arthur Williams (better known as A.L. Williams) once observed, most of humankind's knowledge can be found in books.
2) At work or in your personal life, take on a difficult task or project that no one else wants to do. If you succeed, you can write your own ticket selling your expertise to others both in your writings and as a consulting service.
Example: My old college friend EG led his company in an early SAP (software) implementation and then made a handsome living as a SAP expert.
3) Have more experiences. Instead of watching TV, be on the board of a nonprofit like my colleague BK, or buy and run a bar like my writer friend CF. Or be like my friend DY who built a shack in the middle of the woods, lived there for a year, and then wrote a novel about it. The more you do, the more you have to write about.
4) Associate with successful people. Soak up their knowledge and experience. Ask questions to find out what they know that others don't. Then distill what you learn and pass it on to your readers.
5) Take or teach a course.
For instance, in my early days in NYC, I took some Learning Annex courses on various career options such as music and business. I then wrote about what I learned in my John Wiley & Sons (their site here) book Dream Jobs: a Guide to Tomorrow's Top Careers.
I had been a technical writer at Westinghouse in Baltimore, and when I moved to NYC, I taught a technical writing course at New York University. The course became the basis for my McGraw-Hill book The Elements of Technical Writing, which I wrote in 1981 and is still in print today.
Nicholas Baker: "If you think your writing furthers life or truth in some way, then you keep writing. But if that feeling stops, you have to find something else to do."
Sincerely,
Bob Bly
Copywriter / Consultant
31 Cheyenne Dr.
Montville, NJ 07045
Phone 973-263-0562
Fax 973-263-0613
www.bly.com
No comments:
Post a Comment