In the first installment of “Are You A Remarkable Writer?” by Damien Farnsworth, he discussed the ability for remarkable writers to size up content, they are able to connect the dots and express their ideas clearly.
Next, I’ll share Damien’s next three of his six.
4. Remarkable writers can write in their head
I keep a notebook. A journal of sorts. I try to record ideas as they come. But there are times when I have an idea, and I’m entirely too lazy to get up — or it’s just downright dangerous to write. This usually occurs in bed, the shower, or on a long drive.
Here’s what I do.
You’ve got your mind’s eye, right?
- Write your headline on that screen using the principles behind persuasive headlines.
- Work that headline twenty different ways until you can settle on something useable.
- When you get a chance, write it down.
- Move on to the first paragraph. And so on.
This is exactly how I wrote Sorry — Your Humdinger of Headline Won’t Save the Catastrophe that Is Your Blog Post. I worked that headline out in my head late one night as if I was talking to my wife (who was fast asleep beside me). Then I worked on the lead. All in my head. The following morning I wrote the post.
I don’t share that little story to brag as much as I share it to say that it works, which is why remarkable writers use it. Verilyn Klinkenborg, member of the New York Times Editorial Board, agrees:
Before you learn to write well, to trust yourself as a writer, you will have to learn to be patient in the presence of your own thoughts.
And in response to the question about his “writing process,” Klinkenborg answers …
I think patiently, trying out sentences in my head.
Remarkable writers write in their head.
5. Remarkable writers read with a deep purpose
There are three kinds of readers.
- Libertarian – He is free to read whatever he wants. Whenever he wants. However he wants. Scan his reading history and you’ll see Mashable blog posts, Stieg Larsson novels, National Geographic magazines and bottles of shampoo. Think promiscuity.
- Social conservatives – He is a little more purposeful in what he reads. He might grab the Atlantic Wire’s Beach Reads for Smart People or be a member of Oprah’s reading club. Either way he narrows his reading scope by taking cues from social authorities.
- Extremists – This is the PhD preparing for her doctorate in medieval chemistry. The defense attorney hunkered in the library to bone up on local moonshine statutes. The writer working on a memoir of Hungarian-Jewish physician Joseph Goldberger. The writer is absorbed (and obsessed) with one topic — and one topic alone.
Remarkable writers absorb their books. For long stretches of time. Clueless to the rest of the world. Of course, writers can’t exactly claim a monopoly on this trait. The next trait, however, they most definitely can.
6. Remarkable writers swing the snow shovel
Editing a long document is sort of like shoveling snow off a sidewalk while it is still snowing. #writing.
— Demian Farnworth (@demianfarnworth) November 15, 2012
That’s my metaphor for rewriting. Let me explain.
It begins with a foot of snow (you dump a rough draft on to the blank page). You start to shovel (edit) down the sidewalk (page). You reach the end of the sidewalk (page), wipe your brow with your cap and look behind you. My goodness, you didn’t realize it started snowing while you were still shoveling (it hardly looks like your editing job put a dent in your rough draft).
And boy, it sure is coming down fast.
You shrug, put your cap back on, lower the shovel and scoop. On and on. American novelist, critic and essayist Walter Kirn expressed it this way:
At the beginning of a novel, a writer needs confidence, but after that what’s required is persistence. These traits sound similar. They aren’t. Confidence is what politicians, seducers, and currency speculators have, but persistence is a quality found in termites. It’s the blind drive to keep on working that persists after confidence breaks down.
That ability to re-work a piece of copy ad nauseum is utterly unique to a writer. No other profession can claim that ability. And that, my friend, is what separates a remarkable writer from everyone else.
Did you see yourself in the his list of six? I admit I have at least three of them, sizing up content, connecting the dots and writing in my head. I am striving to get the next three. We beginning a new year. It’s time for me to improve. That’s how we grow.
About the Author: Demian Farnworth is Chief Copywriter for Copyblogger Media. Follow him on Twitter or Google+.