How much do you write for 1) your career and 2) spare time?

[Jenson71]

Writing is a serious chore for me when it's a topic I'm not exploring for fun. But, my future career will require my writing all the time. And, unfortunately, I'm not too good at it.

In my spare time, I write occasionally. Mostly here or on another site. I do not write poetry, letters, or books in my spare time, but I do like the idea of doing so.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by NewChief

I just turned in about 250 pages (maybe half of those were my own work, and the rest were forms, photocopies of student work, and such) that I'd been working on this year for my National Boards. That was a lot of writing.

I have to write quite a bit (including emails), and it's fine. The main thing I dislike is that writing at work tends to waste my writing "energy," so I don't do as much writing for fun.

As for being a "good" writer, here's what I know as a writing instructor: as you write for your profession, you'll get better and better because you now have skin in the game. Trying to get young writers to have "skin in the game" is one of the real dilemmas facing writing instructors. Until its relevant and meaningful, trying to become a good writer (for someone who isn't a natural) is tough.

Between emails and commenting on mountains of drafts in Word, I feel the balls of my writing energy largely drained.

[Reaper16]

I am a writer. It is what I do. I write extensively during my spare time from teaching. I consider my writing to be work.

[KurtCobain]

Originally Posted by Reaper16

I am a writer. It is what I do. I write extensively during my spare time from teaching. I consider my writing to be work.

What do you write?

[NewChief]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Between emails and commenting on mountains of drafts in Word, I feel the balls of my writing energy largely drained.

Can you freaking imagine commenting on student papers without Word, though? Well... I can... because I used to at one time. They'd get little one word comments like, "Good," "Awkward" "?" "!" and shit like that. Now that I use Word's commenting, I can actually provide them meaningful feedback (disclaimer: I'm left handed, and my handwriting is practically indecipherable).

[NewChief]

Originally Posted by KurtCobain

What do you write?

Ever read Letters to Penthouse?

[Jenson71]

You know, we have at least three professional writing teachers, to some degree, here with Reaper, Hamas, and NewChief.

Are there any other ways of becoming a better writer other than writing more and reading good writing (wherever and whatever that is)? I have my Strunk and White guide nearby for reminders of clarity and brevity.

[siberian khatru]

I am a newspaper editorial page editor.

[Simplex3]

I write all day, every day. It's just that most of it isn't words.

[NewChief]

Originally Posted by Jenson71

You know, we have at least three professional writing teachers, to some degree, here with Reaper, Hamas, and NewChief.

Are there any other ways of becoming a better writer other than writing more and reading good writing (wherever and whatever that is)? I have my Strunk and White guide nearby for reminders of clarity and brevity.

Firstly: get into a group of writers. That might consist of making use of the writing lab at your school or finding a group of colleagues to write with. You might join a writing group either in real life or online. You need feedback on your writing beyond what a professor is going to give you.

Secondly: revision. Seriously. It's the missing piece for most people. I'm not talking about editing. I'm talking about moving ideas around, scrapping ideas, really going into full-scale revision (that seems to be what my students don't grasp. If they get it on the page, it's staying because to remove it or change it would take away from their content).

Thirdly: editing. This is probably where I struggle. I can proofread other people like crazy, but I can't proof my own shit. I have friends who do it for me. Anyway, you need to be able to go through and create tight, active prose (especially considering you're going into law and the tendency is going to be to lapse into legalese).

Finally: if you can take a reading/writing course from an actual writer who will talk about what you're reading from a point of view of the author's craft (not theory and all that shit), it will do wonders. Someone that breaks down exactly what the author is doing and why. It will make you think about writing and reading in a different way.

That's my little list. The others may have different suggestions, but I think that would help anyone who wants to improve as a writer.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by Jenson71

You know, we have at least three professional writing teachers, to some degree, here with Reaper, Hamas, and NewChief.

Are there any other ways of becoming a better writer other than writing more and reading good writing (wherever and whatever that is)? I have my Strunk and White guide nearby for reminders of clarity and brevity.

Experiment. Work with different forms and techniques. Allow yourself to wander into stream of consciousness at times to see where it takes you.

Most importantly, you have to recognize who your audience is. Clarity and brevity is nice for professional writing, but that's really more for the sentence level. Excessive concision can create a redundant effect that puts your readers to sleep. You need to have variety in your style. I'm neither a big fan of Hemingway nor Dickens because of the excessive minimalism (H) or the preposterously long constructions (D). I think that demonstrating an ability at both is a better hallmark of a more versatile writer.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

To piggyback on to what NC said, you have to look at revision as a compound word. Look at its roots.

"Re"-to do again
"Vision"-seeing

Re-see your paper. Ask yourself the purpose for a particular paragraph, quote, section, even an individual sentence. To what end did you make it? Why is it there? And when you look over it, don't read it, say it aloud to yourself. Clumsy constructions will make themselves more apparent when you speak them, whereas when you read your own writing you have a tendency to skim because you already know what is coming next.

[MoreLemonPledge]

I sign my name countless times at work. That's about the extent of it.

At home I write lyrics to songs, if that counts.

[Reaper16]

Originally Posted by KurtCobain

What do you write?

Essays, mostly. Other forms that fall under the "creative nonfiction" umbrella. I do dabble in some poetry, fiction and playwriting. But mostly essays. (And don't think like "school assignment" essays. Think: Montaigne.

[Reaper16]

Originally Posted by NewChief

Firstly: get into a group of writers. That might consist of making use of the writing lab at your school or finding a group of colleagues to write with. You might join a writing group either in real life or online. You need feedback on your writing beyond what a professor is going to give you.

Secondly: revision. Seriously. It's the missing piece for most people. I'm not talking about editing. I'm talking about moving ideas around, scrapping ideas, really going into full-scale revision (that seems to be what my students don't grasp. If they get it on the page, it's staying because to remove it or change it would take away from their content).

Thirdly: editing. This is probably where I struggle. I can proofread other people like crazy, but I can't proof my own shit. I have friends who do it for me. Anyway, you need to be able to go through and create tight, active prose (especially considering you're going into law and the tendency is going to be to lapse into legalese).

Finally: if you can take a reading/writing course from an actual writer who will talk about what you're reading from a point of view of the author's craft (not theory and all that shit), it will do wonders. Someone that breaks down exactly what the author is doing and why. It will make you think about writing and reading in a different way.

That's my little list. The others may have different suggestions, but I think that would help anyone who wants to improve as a writer.

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

To piggyback on to what NC said, you have to look at revision as a compound word. Look at its roots.

"Re"-to do again
"Vision"-seeing

Re-see your paper. Ask yourself the purpose for a particular paragraph, quote, section, even an individual sentence. To what end did you make it? Why is it there? And when you look over it, don't read it, say it aloud to yourself. Clumsy constructions will make themselves more apparent when you speak them, whereas when you read your own writing you have a tendency to skim because you already know what is coming next.

Seconded.

[Fish]

Only on the bathroom walls...