Stop, Look, and Listen

“Stop, Look, and Listen.” Everyone is familiar with these signs at railroad crossings, but those same words can also help you improve your writing.

STOP
Know when to stop. That’s probably the primary thing that separates beginning from seasoned writers. In the beginning, you sometimes feel that when you’re on a roll, you should just keep on going. But learning to know when to stop writing will help you write tighter and avoid rambling.

While it’s important to come to a logical conclusion, it’s just as important to say what you have to say in a compact way. Back in the mid-1990s, writing for the Internet caught many professional writers off guard. Many had been used to writing longer pieces for magazines, but the writing for Web sites required them to write short articles. For many, writing shorter meant working harder because they didn’t have to write as compactly before.

LOOK
When you’re involved in writing an article, story, or book, do you take the time to look at the piece overall? If you try to do that while you’re writing, it can be distracting. Instead, put the piece aside for while. Doing so will give you some distance from it, thus giving your brain time to forget it for a while. Reading over your work at another time gives you some perspective—a chance to see the bigger picture. It’s then and only then that you’ll be able to tell if what you’ve been writing makes sense.

LISTEN
Join a writers’ group and listen to what the other members have to say about your work. It’s important that any group you join has a leader whose skills are more advanced than those of the members of the group. Only in this way will personalities not enter into discussions as much, thus resulting in more honest critiques. Learn to listen to what others have to say about your writing while at the same time learn how to constructively critique others’ work.

Of course, some members of the group may dwell on grammar and such. That’s good, but you also want to encourage feedback about your content, length, and style. The real purpose of joining a writers’ group is to improve each others' writing, not to massage egos.

Also, listen to authors by reading their work. Learn to read like a writer, being on the lookout for techniques that you can use in your own work. Really listen to the way another writer tells his or her story or the way they delve into a subject in their article. Most people read an article, for instance, without looking at who wrote it. You need to be aware of the writer and be on the lookout for other works written by the same person.

Pay attention to how other writing sounds. If you like the way a piece reads, read a section out loud to yourself or into a digital recorder. Then listen to it several times to pick up its rhythm and style. Really listen then try it in your own writing.

You might also consider taking a writing class to help improve your skills. If you’re just starting out, take a good foundation course in creative writing, for example.  But if you’ve been writing a while, take classes focused on the type of writing you do. An alternative is to attend writers’ workshops and conferences.

When you finally get your big break, and an editor wants to work with you, be sure you’re ready to listen. Don’t be defensive. Don’t be argumentative. Listen. Listen to his or her feedback. Most editors have enough experience under their belt to know a good writer when they come across one. Even if your work is a bit rough around the edges, a good editor will work with you to improve it. They want what’s best for you and your story, and good editors always have a vision for what your article, story, or book can really be. Listen to them and let them guide you.

A Writer's Haunted Life

When is a writer’s life like a haunted house? Always.

Writers, most of them anyway, live a haunted life. Ghosts appear at every turn. Sometimes, these are the ghosts of previously written pieces that come around to bite them in the ass. Sometimes, these are the ghosts of editors who still carry a grudge for one reason or another. And sometimes, these are the ghosts of poorly made decisions. But whatever haunts you, you can bet it will be far worse than going through a haunted house during the Halloween season.

While visiting a haunted house is meant to be entertaining, living a haunted life certainly isn’t. The bad times far outway the good ones. Usually the euphoria that comes with the good times certainly lingers longer. But the truth is that bad things that happen to writers can have lasting effects.

Take the first time someone critiques your work. You feel scared as hell—your skin may itch, your eyes water, your stomach churns. And what if the critique turns out to be horrible. Will you crawl in a hole and die? Certainly not. But you may get terribly depressed. In fact, you may never write again. It happens far more often than you think.

Perhaps you’ve been working with an editor for a long stretch and you have developed a great working relationship. Then the editor tells you that they’re leaving for another job. You know what you have, but you have no idea what you’ll be getting. The new editor may love your work and give you more than you can handle. Or the new editor may end up telling you can’t write, leaving you without a good regular market.

Or what about when an editor promises you’ll get paid, but you never see the money. If you’re a full-time freelancer, the bill collector demons may be knocking on your door—or calling you every hour. Boy, could you use that money now. But it never arrives. And what about all the work you put into that piece. Sometimes, you can’t even sell it elsewhere.

But then you get a call from your publisher with a nod to a book proposal you sent him months ago. Hallelujah! You dig in and begin working on the book. You’re having a fantastic time. You send in the manuscript. Your editor loves it. Then you wait. One day, you get an Email telling you the publisher decided not to publish your book because the market took a downturn. You get to keep the advance. But no one will ever read your book. And unless the publisher releases you from your contract, you’re stuck.

Haunted houses are full of surprises. They’re meant to be. But so will your life be as a writer. Often you won’t know what the next day will bring. Too many surprises can cause a lot of stress. This turns a lot of beginning writers away from freelancing. The New York Times is in the process of laying off nearly 100 reporters and editors. You can bet a bunch of them will try their hand at freelancing. They should succeed, but many of them won’t. Why? Because they don’t like surprises. Working for a salary has its advantages.

It takes more than writing skill to be a successful writer. It takes stamina. You’ve got to be on top of your game all the time. And when you’re hit with too many ghosts coming at you, you tend to back off and your writing suffers.

You’ve only heard about all the good things that happen to famous writers. But they, too, have had their share of surprises—ghosts that have come back to haunt them.