Realizing Writing
Understanding and Manifesting the Power of Words
(c) Dr. James J. Dines, esquire – December, 2024
"Words have the power to both destroy and heal. When words are both true and kind, they can change our world.” – Siddhartha Gautama, “The Buddha”
Introduction
Do you enjoy communicating and have a nagging inside that there must be something more to life than short pithy back and forth exchanges in an echo chamber? Perhaps you paid attention in school and actually cared if an adjective modified a noun or a verb, even if you have long forgotten the details? Do you truly enjoy writing with pen and paper, or in digital media? If you are anything like the person I just described I have both good and bad news: You might not realize it yet, but you don’t just write; you are and have always been a writer.
Perhaps you are seriously considering turning your love for writing into a profession. Almost anyone can lay down a bunch of words on a piece of paper. Doing so, even on a fairly regular basis, isn’t what makes one a professional writer; it just makes one someone who regularly writes.
Purpose
When I was 17 years old I had a plan. My father was a highly successful entrepreneur who was known throughout the small town where I grew up. Everyone, including my father and 6 year old self, was sure I was going to follow in his footsteps, and in a certain way I have.
I’m told my first word(s) were “Whazzat” and that I would stumble around pointing at objects using them to soak up the words to describe them like a curious sponge. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was already a writer. While I never saw myself this way at the time, I also had a highly creative bent that made me an artist. I couldn’t draw well, but my artistic bent manifested in other ways. I was a hell of a drummer and my writing skills were fueled by this same artistic quality based upon that natural creativity. I had many reasons at the time, but by age 17 the one thing I knew for sure was that the construction and towing recovery businesses my father had grown to locally epic proportion were not for me.
My plan was simple, though not by any means easy to implement. I would first be a successful software engineer, then a college professor, and finally a journalist who would write my autobiography. I was a musician with a hippie bent, but not a deadhead. Still I knew that when I looked back it would be a long strange trip, the accounting of which would make an interesting read. I have always respected freedom of speech and understood early on that the first amendment in effect establishes journalism as the unofficial fourth branch of the US government.
For me, it was recently the time to launch my professional writing career officially. Is now the right time for you?
Caution
Writing as a profession is not for everyone. A large part of any successful writing career involves doing it well, and that requires a combination of skill, natural language ability, and commitment that is, in my experience at least, rare to find. Part of being a professional involves ethical responsibility because words have power. Everything you write runs the risk of being read, so writing responsibly is more important than most people might realize.
It takes time to write and it takes time to read what has been written both by oneself during the writing process, and by others inside the process during the research phase, as well as outside of it. Time should be invested rather than spent, both on the part of the writer and the reader, and it is wise to remember that the two are not mutually exclusive. Reading and re-reading what one has written as well as what others have written is an essential part of that process. All of this takes time, and none of us really have enough of it. At the end of it all, one significant metric we can use to measure our success as a writer is in terms of time investment; how much return on investment our writing provides both on the part of the writer and each reader.
It is a common misconception that a successful writing piece is something nobody ever mentions, because it means everyone agrees. Not so at all. If one asks the wrong questions every answer will likely be wrong, and good writing doesn’t just ask questions, it inspires those who read it to ask themselves more. People who have questions want answers, and nobody lives in a vacuum. Of course, it is of no use if you ask the right questions but your target audience isn’t prepared to understand them. They will either ask the wrong questions, or even worse, none at all. This means that one must begin with the end in mind. Considering the target audience is essential in this regard.
Overview
Following a solid process can be a highly effective way to leverage writing skills, and writing is both an art and a science. The artistic component is hard to describe and is difficult, if not impossible, to teach. One must learn by doing. The science components, such as etymology, research, and following established procedure are important.
What follows is my best first attempt to lay out an approach and process one can follow to leverage ones writing abilities to maximize favorable results. I followed this process and approach to write this article. This process is recursive, because writing is a recursive process.
At the beginning it is important to read and understand both the single sentence description and the content describing each item in each list. It should be referenced repeatedly as you follow the process recursively, until the entire process is fully assimilated. The end game is to repeat it until it becomes a subconscious process you follow without having to put too much conscious effort into it.
At the end of this article you will find the summaries. These are the single sentence descriptions, which can be used from time to time to refresh ones memory and serve as a checklist as needed, and then the full descriptions can be referenced on an as needed basis.
The Approach
1) Write with a specific objective; start with it in mind; verify it serves the objective upon review
As mentioned earlier, writing a bunch of words doesn’t make one a prolific and effective writer. Everything you write should be the result of not just effort, but right intention. Choosing an objective for your efforts helps to keep focus, and eases the process of determining what does and does not belong in the article. As a result it will be much more easy to remain concise, and on point. Your readers will appreciate that you have respected their time.
2) Write to a specific target audience
After identifying your target audience, describe them specifically in the introduction. The description should be specific at its core, but may also include those who may only meet a subset of the criteria. This will ensure that everyone knows who the article is written for, and how closely they match the criteria laid out in the description of the target audience. Who doesn’t read your article is almost as important as who does. If people have to read too far into the article to figure out it isn’t for them you will gain a reputation as a writer that you do not want. By ensuring that the appropriate people read it, your reputation will come as result of analysis by those who find what you write pertinent, and who appreciate that their time reading it was an investment rather than a squandering.
3) Include a compelling hook. Optionally include an engaging anecdote as part of it
After identifying the target audience and communicating it at the start of the article, include a “hook”. This is a short paragraph or two that gives the reader motivation to keep reading.
Consider including an engaging anecdote as part of the hook. This anecdote may sometimes carry the reader away briefly. I might argue that it should, in fact, and that is in large part what makes it engaging. The anecdote is the place for story telling, and stories should be interesting to read in their own right. It should always end by bringing the reader back to focus on the article.
The Process
1) Use pen and paper judiciously
If writing is a dying art, and it is, then using pen and paper to do so is on life support. If one understands the benefits of doing so this quickly becomes an uncomfortable truth. Much of the writing process involves the use of technology, but using old school writing techniques, especially in the initial creative process, can make the final product more easy to create, and increase its efficacy.
There is a great deal of evidence that one can readily search for and find on the internet that writing with pen and paper affords numerous advantages. Doing so increases mind engagement in several areas, and improves focus due to the absence of distractions such as system notifications and those from processes running in the background. Antisocial Media platforms, banks, marketing companies … the list seems to grow daily, but none of these institutions can interrupt you when you are employing pen and paper.
Furthermore, old school writing makes it quicker to note down thoughts and ideas, and allows for more free thought flow. It allows for rapid drawing in order to help capture and solidify relationships among the various notes, and drawing opens up an additional avenue for expressing them that would otherwise require a tedious process involving the use of additional software such as presentation and graphics software. The operative word here is “judicously”; use the technique, but don’t over-use it; use it wisely.
2) Write what you know
Nothing you write should come from a place of ignorance or assumption, and should never include gossip or speculation. This does not mean that you need to be an expert on a subject before you start the process, though it helps. It does mean that by the end of the process you should at least be someone who knows more than most about the subject. Research is key in this regard, which brings us to the next step in the process.
3) Research at the start, and continuously during the entire process
Even if you think you are already an expert on the subject matter, research is an important part of the process. Sometimes we remember things incorrectly, or we had it wrong the whole time. It is important to make sure that when you write, you know what you are writing, and that you have written what you know. This makes research a critical element of the process, and research should be done recursively. It should begin at or near the start, be continued throughout the process in parallel to the actual writing effort, and everything should be double checked for accuracy at the end. If what you write is incorrect on any more than an extremely rare basis it will not serve your reputation well. Furthermore, since everything you write runs the risk of being read, you run the risk of spreading misinformation, which is the mortal enemy of responsible writing.
4) Write regularly; make this process a religious one
Skill is a primary factor in realizing your writing potential, but raw skill won’t ever be enough. It doesn’t matter how much natural talent you have, if you don’t pick up your instrument and practice playing it regularly you will never get to Carnegie Hall.
Raw skill needs to be supplemented by improvement in ability and regular practice, and while you might never forget to ride a bicycle, anyone getting back on one after years of abstinence riding can tell you, knowing how isn’t the same as being good at it.
If you regularly write you will grow your ability and keep on your A game. Just like physical muscles, the paths in your neural network decay over time if they are not regularly employed. This mean you should practice regularly, even when you aren’t paid to do so. If you don’t regularly employ your skills, you will find it much harder to be effective when you do employ them.
5) Take regular breaks; allow the composting process to work
No matter if you are a marathon writer or a sprinter, regular breaks will help you, and they are not actually a cease in the process as might be assumed. When you switch focus to other tasks, even if it is to watch a movie or simply sit quietly without thinking about your writing, a process called “composting” occurs. If you don’t take breaks the composting process never happens. While it is counterproductive to take too many breaks, or take breaks that are too long, breaks are important and it is important to find a balance between the extremes.
Even if you are in the habit of continuing straight through your writing effort from beginning to completion, try this approach and give it more than a day or two. You will likely be surprised at the results, but it takes time to try since the ideal balance is different for everyone.
6) Enlist a capable person to serve as editor; someone reliable whom you can trust
If you don’t already have such a person or people in your life this can be one of the most challenging aspects of the process. You don’t have to start from ground zero however. AI / Natural Language Models have evolved to the point where they can be very useful, and they can act as one more editor even when you have humans to help.
7) Leverage, but never abuse, modern technology
Never use AI to write on your behalf. Never just google search then copy and paste what you discover. Plagiarism is not only unethical, it is almost impossible to avoid being found out these days.
8) Stop the entire writing process when the first draft is complete, then revisit with feedback
This may at first sound like it is the same as step 5, but there is a difference. Regular breaks throughout the process can happen with a certain degree of irregularity. This break has a hard time constraint. While the usefulness of breaks as outlined in step 5 are lesser known, this step is more commonly accepted, even if the reasons it works aren’t always communicated or understood.
A significant, long break after the draft version of an article is complete allows time for composting of the entire effort to, in computer terms, run to completion. Often times we are too close to what we have written and are failing to see subtle details, or to consider aspects of the endeavor we wouldn’t normally focus upon.
During this time even receiving and processing feedback is verboten. Feedback brings focus back to the effort, and the whole purpose of this step is to shift the focus away from the endeavor completely. It is fairly common to suggest an overnight delay, and this is good advice, but sometimes that just isn’t possible. If it is at all possible to do, however, some sleep is better than none and a short nap is better than not sleeping on it at all.
9) Prefer simplicity to complexity
Albert Einstein famously stated that “things should be made as simple as possible, but never simpler.” Einstein also said that he doesn’t believe that God plays dice with the universe, and anyone with a basic understanding of the history of quantum mechanics knows how far he missed the mark on that one. Where Albert went wrong on this was that he forgot his own advice regarding the importance of simplicity. He completely abandoned Occam’s wise advice and introduced an entirely unnecessary variable into the equation. E doesn’t equal MGod^2.
Don’t make things more complicated than they are just to sound like an expert or to impress. Use of language can be more complex in consideration of the target audience in order to make the read more interesting, but don’t over complicate.
10) Have a reasonable soft deadline in mind; consider avoiding hard deadlines when possible
We can’t always set our own deadlines and milestones, but when they are under our control consider favoring soft deadlines to hard ones. This doesn’t mean that we should never establish hard deadlines, but it does mean that hard deadlines impact the quality of our work more than soft ones, and so a preference for soft ones allows us to minimize any adverse impact.
11) Say something new rather than parroting what everyone else is saying
To the greatest extent possible, offer unique insights and rarely known information that doesn’t turn up at the top of search engine results. Quotes can be an effective tool, but quotes that are not commonly known should be preferred.
12) Attribute generously
Attribution is not just for research, and it doesn’t just refer to results of scientific studies. To the extent that what we write is not completely original, it can be beneficial to give credit where credit is due. This doesn’t mean just being careful to attribute quotes. While we aren’t always aware of it, when we know who inspired our thoughts and ideas, we should say so. This avoids the perception that we are attempting to pass off concepts, ideas, and philosophies as our own. It has the advantage of pointing the reader in directions they might not otherwise travel. This adds value to your writing by adding value to the readers experience.
13) Treat this process as a binding contract with yourself
At the end of the day effective writing requires commitment. If you don’t make a commitment to yourself and keep it, you may just find that all this effort is an expenditure rather than an investment. Time is invaluable, and none of us really have enough of it even when we assume that we do. Commit yourself to making your every effort an investment, do what you love, and the rest will follow. It is a powerful philosophy generally attributed to Confucius, and it results in great efficacy. There is a final similar saying that is also attributed to Confucius which comes to mind: “do what you love and you will never work a day in your life.”
The Approach in Summary
1) Write with a specific objective; start with it in mind; verify it serves the objective upon review
2) Write to a specific target audience
3) Include a compelling hook. Optionally include an engaging anecdote as part of it
The Process in Summary
1) Use pen and paper judiciously
2) Write what you know
3) Research at the start, and continuously during the entire process
4) Write regularly; make this process a religious one
5) Take regular breaks; allow the composting process to work
6) Enlist a capable person to serve as editor; someone reliable whom you can trust
7) Leverage, but never abuse, modern technology
8) Allow time for composting when the first draft is complete, then revisit with feedback
9) Prefer simplicity to complexity
10) Have a reasonable soft deadline in mind; consider avoiding hard deadlines when possible
11) Say something new rather than parroting what everyone else is saying
12) Attribute generously
13) Treat this process as a binding contract with yourself
Final Words
I started this article with the objective of assisting aspiring and current professional writers to become the best possible professionals that they can become. I hope you found the reading of it was a great investment of your time, and that it serves its intended purpose. I tried, but I realize that nobody is perfect. I know from experience that if I always do my best I can accept it when my endeavors fall short of the mark. Doing my best doesn’t end just because the article is complete.
If you have comments or questions then I would love to hear them. I welcome all criticism, though I prefer it to be constructive. If you don’t have any questions, and have nothing to say about what you just read, even if you don’t direct them at me, then I haven’t done my job.
Please feel free to contact me. The best way to determine how to do so is to visit my website contact page. It will always have the most up to date information. https://dr-dines-esquire.online
Sincerely,
Dr. James J. Dines, esquire