Charity Singleton Craig quoted Russ Ramsey in her article about becoming masterful:
What are you mastering? What are you practicing in order to make clear what you don’t yet know? If you’re anything like me, I’m sure you reach points where you begin to wonder if it might just be easier to plateau. And if not plateau, then quit altogether.
Don’t. Please. This world is short on masters, and consequently short on joy too.
That sent me back for a peek at my list of Five Writing Strengths, to see if I would change or add anything—to see if I can still draw from these strengths to continually improve and move toward mastery.
1. The ability to sit still for long stretches of time
Not everyone can do this, you know. Some people get antsy, restless. After a few minutes of sitting still, they fidget and have to get up and make hot chocolate or call a friend. Writers need to be able to sit still for hours in order to get their work done. Dorothea Brande in her book Becoming a Writer said:
Writing calls on unused muscles and involves solitude and immobility. There is not much to be said for the recommendation, so often heard, to serve an apprenticeship to journalism if you intend to write fiction. But a journalist’s career does teach two lessons which every writer needs to learn—that it is possible to write for long periods without fatigue, and that if one pushes on past the first weariness one finds a reservoir of unsuspected energy—one reaches the famous “second wind.” (71)
I can’t help but think of that famous advice writers hear at conferences and in books: How does one become a successful writer? Apply one’s bottom to chair (unless, of course, one is using a standing desk). I admit that I do head into the other room to grab a handful of nuts now and then, or fix a cup of tea. But I can sit still when need be.
2. Curiosity
Each person I meet knows something I don’t—I can always learn something new if I ask the right questions. All it takes is a little curiosity. Whether working for a newspaper or corporate client, finding interest in some aspect of a new industry, person, story, or methodology is a strength—if I myself am interested in it, the way I write about it will probably be more interesting, as well. I value curiosity so highly in writing and in life, I publish a monthly Curiosity Journal, documenting and sharing my discoveries.
3. A Commitment to lifelong learning
I’ve abandoned the pursuit of higher education in a formal sense, but Autodidact Ann lives (and reads and researches) on. The more I learn, the more I have to write about. And guess what lifelong learners possess in abundance? Curiosity.
4. Love of reading
Numbers 2, 3, and 4 are suspiciously interrelated. It might seem that I’m taking one idea and stretching it out to fill space—which might be yet another strength in itself—but I do think they deserve to be singled out. Curiosity often leads to learning and reading, and one often learns via reading. But there are other ways to learn and satisfy curiosity, and there is more than one motivation to read.
Yet (and this is the point) reading inevitably enhances writing—the content may inspire (or not), the writing style may be worth imitating (or not). Either way, reading widely only helps a writer. In his memoir, On Writing, Stephen King says:
If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There’s no way around these two things that I’m aware of, no shortcut. (139)
and
Reading is the creative center of a writer’s life. (142)
Storylines linger, nonfiction facts inform, ideas from texts co-mingle with others in my mind to form something new. A writer who doesn’t read is doomed to compose in a narrow style and draw from a limited library of ideas. I relish a good book, and I believe that makes my writing richer.
5. Persistence
Never, never, never give up. Stick with it. Persist. I may not have been born with the greatest writing talent, but I’ve stuck with it. I work to improve and learn from mistakes, forging ahead a little smarter, wiser, and more skillful. As a friend of mine said (I paraphrase), the most successful writers are not necessarily the ones with the greatest talent; they’re the ones who persevere.
Now.
It’s your turn. I’m posing the same question to all who write:
What five writing strengths do you possess?
Resources
- Five Things a Freelance Writer Needs to Succeed (Ep 63)
- One Thing Every Writer Needs to Succeed (Ep 21)
- Want to Be a More Creative Writer? Get Curious! (Ep 35)
- Open Your Heart and Let Your Reader In (on vulnerability, Ep 52)
- Go Ahead and Play to Your Strengths (Ep 57)
I particularly resonated with the “curiosity” factor. I love new things, new places, new adventure. It’s what keeps my brain engaged with the world around me
Yes, I see that in you, David. Definitely.
I agree with David.
I have that strength also. Curiosity, I think, should be the platform of any writer.
Good list!
And I see that in you, too, Duane. It comes out in both your and David’s work.
Thanks, Ann. I needed to consider these things. I’m particularly grateful for the broad boundaries you’ve drawn.
1. I value clarity
2. I know how to spell and punctuate–this skill saves me time in looking up spelling and rules.
3. I have a sense of when the rules need to take a rest.
4. I am unusually observant.
5. My brain is my favorite toy.
Love your list, Sheila! I am fairly good with spelling and punctuation, though I keep a style manual at hand for the moments I hesitate.
Wish I were more observant.
Honestly, I don’t consider myself a writer in the formal sense of the word. A mom with a pen and a journal, yes. Scribbling my thoughts, sinking them deep, lessons I’ve learned so I stop cyclic relearning, yes. As I jot and dig, my list would have to include … beautifully busy (which means no time to edit and redraft, just capture and go), obedient (to carve time out of the day and grab a pen), with a bit of spunk.
Delighted to meet you today. I hope you don’t mind if I splash around a bit to get to know you. This looks like a refreshing place to dip into some serious goodness.
Splashin’,
Sarah
Cyclic relearning–great phrase (and a problem of mine).
Love the spunk and the quick-turnaround requirement of your life. It’s a pleasure getting to know you!
Hmmm…not sure I can come up with five (wait, did I violate the rules already by identifying a weakness?) Anyway. I’ve been thinking about this post throughout the day and came up with a couple. I think each person’s story is valuable and deserves to be written down, and I enjoy listening to people and writing their stories. Also, I think I’ve lived long enough to have life experiences from which to draw. That’s it for now. I’ll keep mulling.
Good stuff, Nancy. You encourage us here.
Ooooh, now that is a challenge! Especially (for me) not enumerating my attendant weaknesses to counter-balance. Gotta swirl that one around a bit, but I think I want to try it.
I look forward to your list!
Ann – I think this is a crucial first step to becoming a master writer. Identifying what we can do so that we can work on those things.
I think I share a few of your strengths – particularly curiosity, love of reading, perseverance. I guess I would add the ability to synthesize thoughts from various sources and perspectives, and a love of words. (I think you share both of these things with me, too!)
Thanks for moving me along on my writing journey, friend!
Oh, that’s good, Charity, the synthesizing of thoughts (you’re better than I at that) and a love of words (again, as a skillful poet, you clearly linger over words more lovingly than I, a spitter-outer of words).
1) Read a lot and varied things.
2) Days I don’t write feel like a waste of a good life.
3) Ability to find and create patterns.
4) Good listener (when interviewing), especially nonverbal cues (thank you, half-deafness!).
5) Voracious consumer of music, theater, and podcasts to have a sense of how words sound.
I love #2. It’s the sign of a born writer. Number 3 makes for great flow/rhythm/sentence fluency in your work–I wish I were better at that. And #5 is absolutely fascinating, to think of absorbing the sounds of words in order to use them better. Love that. Love this whole list, actually.
I’m rather passionate about that. 🙂
1. I follow rules and I break them – school gave me a structured understanding of the technicalities of the English–and Spanish–language. I have seen how the houses of our words are constructed. I dwelled from one abode to the next, gettling situated and acclamited to the environment. Recently, I have just begun settling into a more permanent location and I want to do some renovations.
2. My art encompasses a broad spectrum of what I do – my godmother told me that my writing also constitutes as “my art” in addition to my visual artwork. Words and images are closely intertwined within the engine of my imagination.
3. I not only read but I read INTO
4. I adopt new words into my vocabulary – there are so many orphaned words in our English language, desperate for utilization and affection.
5. I strive to do something everyday – I want to be an active co-creator along with God. He never sits still so neither should I.
Hi Ann,
I finally managed to think through this question of yours and write about it on my blog. Here’s the short list:
1. I can sit still (yes, I stole this from you).
2. I haz grammar (and speling, too, apparently).
3. I love learning.
4. I can laugh at myself.
5. I write slowly.
I went into more detail in my post, of course, but those are the highlights.
Thanks for suggesting this. It was interesting to think and write about my strengths – and hard, too, to do so without apology or equivocation.
Warmly,
Kimberlee
What fun. Thanks for asking. 🙂
1. I’ll say anything. (You won’t necessarily get to read it, as I might edit it out, but.)
2. I have big platform connections at this point and am not hesitant about using them—both for myself and linking to other writers whose work I respect.
3. I write for love. Or, put another way, I write to love. That’s why I can’t write stuff I think wastes people’s time or is blather or boring. Not even for money. (This is a strength that serves my readers perhaps better than it serves me 😉
4. I am a translator. (I can take complicated technical material from a variety of fields and make them accessible to readers by making them “everyday.” An example is the “translation” of the fairly technical book ‘Spark’, that turned into this: http://makesyoumom.com/tag/why-exercise/ )
5. I will go without eating to write. I will go without sleeping to write. For short periods, with generous respite after. So I can write a book in a matter of weeks. The Novelist and Rumors were both written in less than a month. 🙂
6. (I know that there wasn’t supposed to be a six, but I need to add that I am also not shy about sharing my strengths. I am old enough to feel comfortable about saying what’s what in a friendly way. If you ask my weaknesses next time, I won’t be shy about them either 🙂 ) I strongly believe that writers and creative people of all kinds should be clear and confident about their strengths and weaknesses. Um, yes, both. That way we know where to play and where to delegate.)
I love how generous your answers are.
Go without eating to write? That’s dedication. I have not mastered that. 🙂
🙂
Megan and Ann. You are both funny. That’s a strength. (Charity, I also love how you’ve been tapping this side of yourself more in the past few years.) Nancy, I would love to see you write funny more. It’s a terrific strength of yours.
Oh, and Megan you are not attached to your words. You revise to the bare bones. And you will rework an entire piece if need be. Very impressive in a writer.
Excellent observations, and encouraging (another strength of yours).
Thank you, Laura. That comes from magazine work.
Ann Patchett, who wrote for Seventeen magazine after getting her MFA at the Iowa Writers Workshop, wrote, “Seventeen also went a long way to beat any ego out of me….Ultimately, this skill came to benefit my fiction as well. The conversations I had had so often with magazine editors were now internalized. I could read both parts of the script. Did I think that was a beautiful scene I had written? Yes, I did. Did it further the cause of the novel? No, not really. Could I then delete it? It was already gone.”
(from “Nonfiction, an Introduction” in “This Is The Story of a Happy Marriage”)
Love this, Ann. It turned out to be a good exercise for me to do.
5 Writing Strengths (some I recognize, some have had to be pointed out to me by others):
1. Disciplined. I have an established block of writing time.
2. Unafraid. A belief that “what’s mentionable is manageable.”
3. Discreet. I have a good sense of what’s my story to tell and what’s someone else’s story to tell.
4. Unhurried. I love and need deadlines, but I also love to follow a thought wherever it’s taking me, no rush.
5. Good listener. Difficult to explain, but I often hear things I know I need to remember or use.
Marilyn, those are strong writing traits. I like the balance of unafraid and discreet, and disciplined and unhurried.
1. Passionate about my topic and researching it.
2. Passionate about helping people understand my topic.
3. Passionate about solving people’s problems in embracing my topic.
4. Willingness/obedience to write even though I HATED writing my whole life. (Tortured in 7th grade.) I HAVE to now. The importance of my topic demands it. (And seeing the results makes me actually like it now. :-o)
5. Absolute love for seeing life-change when people “get it”! Nothing better.
I love that “passion” is recurring on your list, Pam, and number 5 is terrific!
I was asked to fill out a form and a field asked for my writing strengths and I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to say and whilst searching for samples, I came across this article.
I haven’t been writing for very long and I really found it helpful and it has helped me to reflect on my strengths and to note my weaknesses.
I’m so glad, Lucy! Some of them started out as almost a joke, and then I realized they truly are helpful. You might also have strengths such as a command of the English language and grammar rules, or a strong sense of voice. Those could be strengths, as well, in the actual writing. I should probably do a follow-up! 🙂
Hi Anne, just found out about you through Emily P. Freeman. So I am getting started in listening to your podcasts. I noticed that this was from 2011. Wow, still so true.
Looking for 5 of my own ideas.
Life experiences, find the time in small and big chunks, leave defeat at the door, listen to other people’s stories, show you are vulnerable too.
Looking forward to bingeing a few podcasts
Thanks for your sharing of valuable information.
Dawn
I love your list of strengths. I think we should all take time to ponder our own strengths and put that list front and center on our desks. That way we can stop comparing ourselves with others and lean into what we excel at.
I’m so glad you have discovered me, and I have met you! Let me know if you have any questions or ideas for future podcast episode!