This advice is from a letter C.S. Lewis wrote an American schoolgirl in 1959 who asked her for advice on developing as a writer. (via St Eutychus and Christianwritingtoday) Writing is a craft and should be given the same amount of development effort as any other skill. More so, even, if this is part of your professional life.
- Turn off the radio.
- Read good books and avoid most magazines.
- Write with the ear, not the eye. Make every sentence sound good.
- Write only about things that interest you. If you have no interests, you won’t ever be a writer.
- Be clear. Remember that readers can’t know your mind. Don’t forget to tell them exactly what they need to know to understand you.
- Save odds and ends of writing attempts, because you may be able to use them later.
- You need a well-trained sense of word-rhythm, and the noise of a typewriter will interfere.
- Know the meaning of every word you use.
Let’s modify these rules a little and bring them up to the current obstacles that face writers today.
- Turn off the radio, television, music (spotify, pandora, itunes).
- Read good books and avoid most magazines.Try to keep a running list of well-written books on hand. Ask for advice from professors or more experienced readers and writers about books that might help you develop your craft by reading well written prose.
- Write with the ear, not the eye. Make every sentence sound good. Read your work aloud!
- Write only about things that interest you. If you have no interests, you won’t ever be a writer.
- Be clear. Remember that readers can’t know your mind. Don’t forget to tell them exactly what they need to know to understand you.
- Save odds and ends of writing attempts, because you may be able to use them later. Create a folder on your harddrive and throw all the scraps into it.
- You need a well-trained sense of word-rhythm, and the noise of a typewriter will interfere. Think about writing by hand or by keystrokes. This might be a good reason to make sure that your fridge/airconditioner/fan’s squealing gets attended to.
- Know the meaning of every word you use. There are both good online and hard copy dictionaries widely available. Use them.
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Anna Blanch is founder of Goannatree, and a PhD candidate in the Institute of Theology, Imagination, and the Arts at St Mary’s College, University of St Andrews, Scotland. She is also a weekly contributor to Transpositions. You can read the rest of the posts in The Basics series here.
