Elementary Writing

In all my years as a writer, I’ve learned that it’s just one of two alternatives – either you have the skill or you don’t. People who attempt to become writers when they have no innate talent often fall short of expectations and struggle to find words even for the most basic writing assignments.

It’s not that those who have the ability to write find it a breeze all the time – there are times when they feel frustrated and fed-up because the words don’t flow as freely as they ought to and/or because they have too much work and too little time to finish it in.

I wouldn’t call this situation the clichéd “writer’s block” because it’s a combination of factors where you know what to write, you even know how to write it, but compelling deadlines make it impossible to devote the attention to detail that you know is required.

If you’ve ever been in such a situation, or if you draw a blank when you reach for words, here’s what you need to do:

• Don’t take shortcuts:
  It’s tempting to finish in a nutshell and expect the reader to be satisfied with what you’ve provided, but when you’re known as a quality writer, when you have standards to uphold, it’s not wise to take shortcuts.

  If you find yourself running short of time once too often, it’s time to take stock of your time-management skills rather than compromise on the quality of your writing. Wake up earlier than usual or go to bed a couple of hours later, spend less time on the phone or doing things that don’t contribute to your work, and put work first on your priority list.

• Read as much as you can:
  One way to improve both your writing skills and your style is to read as much as you can. Don’t stick to just the genre you like; instead, read as many styles as you can so that you find yourself improving and adding to your repertoire as time goes by.
• Adopt styles that you admire:
  I’m not even suggesting that you plagiarize, so if you thought I was, get the idea out of your mind. All I’m saying is that if you like a particular style of writing, try and write in a similar fashion once in a while to see if it suits you. If it does, then it’s well and good; if not, you could always try a new one.
• Don’t try too hard:
  The words have to flow from the heart or it’s just not happening the right way. I don’t have to read my work once I’m done to know that I’ve written rubbish – I often know as I’m writing it. And when I find myself crossing a certain imaginary quality line, I know it’s time to abort the process and start all over again.
• Take pride in your work:
  When you’re really struggling with both the quality of your work and time factors, take a break and remind yourself of how good a writer you really are. Go over your work, especially the articles or books that you and others consider your best. This will give you the much-needed boost of confidence you need to get back into the flow again.

Finaly, you will need to experiment and find the approach that best helps you to overcome your inspiration problem. Keeping the above mentioned points in mind will certainly help. Let me know what you think.

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This post was contributed by Kelly Kilpatrick, who writes on the subject of online universities. She invites your feedback at kellykilpatrick24 at gmail dot com
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