My Grandfather's Guidelines For Creative Writing
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There's no good use to having a list of 10 strict rules for writing. Easy to remember is best. And remember. There's no perfection, only preference. Flair writing is to invite the reader for a tango, and nothing else. So here's a set of broad-stroked guidelines:-
1) Tap into your playfulness
Shoot first, clean up later. Be compulsive. Be reserved. Be like water. Be like what-fucking-ever. And apologize if you have to. Tap into the primal human experience - polarity, rhythm,vibration, and pattern recognition. So write for yourself, write for others. Mix languages. Write without your underwear. Rollercoasterize words. Listen to yourself. There's no real structure unless you impose one. Here's a particularly useful citation for the gist of it.
“This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word sentences are fine. But several together become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is getting boring. The sound of it drones. It’s like a stuck record. The ear demands some variety. Now listen. I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short sentences. And I use sentences of medium length. And sometimes, when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals–sounds that say listen to this, it is important.”
― Gary Provost
2) Same-same, but different
A popular saying in Thailand. It's the wet market equivalent of correspondence - that which is above is like to that which is below. And vice-versa. The macrocosm and the microcosm are reflections of each other. Try to connect elements between sequential thoughts. Your flow usually gives you the best type of connections within the very first thoughts that come into your mind. Connect the dots - sell it. This way you can even have a better chance at communicating with the type of person that will disagree with you. Here's a short quote for it.
"Used a lot in Thailand, especially in an attempts to sell something but can mean just about anything depending on what the user is trying to achieve."
― Kiwicito, Urban Dictionary
3) Rapid Prototyping
Write in broad shapes first, especially for difficult subjects. Never mind the grammar. Just dish out as many shapes as you can. Choose for yourself and eliminate the rest. Be brutally honest. After forming those sweet sweet shapes, take your time sculpting out the very best lines that you can deliver. This particular guideline doubles up as the obligatory non-rule: don't latch onto things for too long. Don't let any rules rule over you!
“The irony of the process of thought control: the more energy you put into trying to control your ideas and what you think about, the more your ideas end up controlling you.”
― Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Antifragile: Things that Gain from Disorder
“Guys, spread out - we need another moonshot! Try improving everything - including that potato cannon over there. What? I said po-TAH-to.”
― Someone @ Google X
So there. The end. The problem with this is you may end up writing bloated stuff like me. Diligent clean up is necessary. Best thing is - these tips are applicable in other domains. Same-same, but different.
If I were to TLDR this, it would say - Have fun writing! Bye-bye.
---kevinwong/etherpunk(ed)@gmail.com---
picsource:[deviantart]
Have you ever read Dean Wesley Smith blog? He talks a lot about just having fun in your writing. If you don't have fun then it will probably be bad.
Nope.. but as with anything, you need to have fun.. but then again, it's like the chicken and egg problem.. lol
You have a very wise father ! Thank you ! I bookmarked this very valuable article for me . I am still learning