Making Writing Easier

“I’m just not a great writer.”

“Writing doesn’t come naturally to me.”

“I can’t write.”

We’ve heard very smart people say these things, and you probably have too.  Or maybe you’ve said something similar.  And while we can’t make writing come naturally for you, we are here to tell you that you can be a good writer.  You can write.  And writing can be easier – and maybe even easy – for you. 

Myth #1          You’re either a good writer – or you aren’t

Wrong.  Writing can be taught.  And learned.  No one expects a seventh grader to play football like Tom Brady.  But lots of us expect that we should be able to write well today, when the last time someone gave us writing instruction was…seventh grade? 

As Ann Patchett (bestselling author of books like Bel Canto) wrote in The Getaway Car: A Practical Memoir About Writing and Life:

Why is it we understand that playing the cello will require work but we relegate writing to the magic of inspiration? Chances are, any child who stays with an instrument for more than two weeks has some adult who is making her practice, and any child who sticks with it longer than that does so because she understands that practice makes her play better and there is a deep, soul-satisfying pleasure in improvement. If a person of any age picked up the cello for the first time and said, "I'll be playing in Carnegie hall next month!" you would pity her delusion, but beginning writers all over the country polish up their best efforts and send them off to The New Yorker. Perhaps you're thinking here that playing an instrument is not an art in itself but an interpretation of the composer's art, but I stand by my metaphor. The art of writing comes way down the line, as does the art of interpreting Bach. Art stands on the shoulders of craft, which means to get to the art, you must master the craft.

Her point is well-taken.  You would never expect someone to pick up the cello and play easily without any lessons.  The same is true of writing. And, while there are some naturally talented writers, just as there are naturally talented musicians and artists and athletes, even the naturally talented benefit from good coaching and practice.

Myth #2          You suffer from a chronic case of writer’s block

Writer’s block is a disease that affects millions of Americans.  Fortunately, there’s a cure.

For most people, writing consists of two steps:

1) Sit down.
2) Write.

This is an excellent way to guarantee writer’s block.  Instead, we recommend that you think of writing as a four-step process (five, if you count the sitting down part):

1) Plan.
2) Outline.
3) Write.
4) Edit.

Skipping step four (or saving five minutes for a quick proof read immediately before your deadline) means that you have to write every sentence perfectly.  Crushed under the weight of perfection, your writing is stopped before it starts or is constantly halted by your Inner Editor, who changes each sentence several times before you are even finished writing it. 

Skipping steps 1 and 2 means that you have no idea where to start.  One solution is to follow writing expert Anne Lamott’s advice (given by her father to her brother, who was trying to write a report on birds): “Bird by bird, buddy.  Just take it bird by bird.”

But you’re busy.  You don’t have time to take it bird by bird. 

Learning to effectively plan and outline before you start to write will save you time, make writing much easier, and make your finished product more coherent. 

Myth #3          It’s not me, it’s them

“I’m sorry, but I can’t follow this,” your reader/boss/client says after reading a few pages of a draft you’ve given her.

“It’s crystal clear,” you think, calculating the hours you spent writing it.

We often work with writers who, when we ask them to explain a sentence, give us a clear and simple explanation.  “But you didn’t write that,” we say.  “Yes, I did,” the writer inevitably replies.

It’s hard to remember what you didn’t know before you started researching or writing something. And it’s even harder to read your own writing from the perspective of someone who isn’t inside your head and doesn’t know what you know. In the same way that we can look at our toddler’s drawing and see a snowman while he explains to us that he drew “Batman on a bicycle in the clouds,” sometimes a reader picks up something very different than you thought you put down on the paper.  And, just like that toddler can grow up to illustrate Batman for DC Comics, through practice, all writers can produce a clear and effective written product.

You can learn to write for different audiences, to edit your own writing from the reader’s perspective, and to incorporate what you learn into your writing process.  The end result? Your writing will be clear, and your writer will understand what you’ve written, regardless of his familiarity with the subject matter.  

Sounds good.  How do I get started?

Visit www.legalwritingconsultants.com, send us an email, or give us a call.  While we work primarily with attorneys, regardless of what you do for a living, we can help you simplify the writing process and improve your finished product.

You are not a bad writer. You just haven’t practiced with a great coach yet.