3 Habits To Becoming A Great Writer
Melissa Garcia
Product Marketing Leader I 2x Founding PMM I Content Marketing Guru I PMA Fellow I PMA Expert in Residence.
"Great writing requires observation, reflection, analysis, and an artful presentation of information" (Grammarly).
No, it is not ChatGPT. ChatGPT is a tool to assist with research and ideation but shouldn't be as substitute for great writing.
The GREAT writing I'm talking about requires a daily habit of applying the principles listed in this article. Writing masters like Stephen King and J.K Rowling creates their masterpieces after spending hours, days, and months on their craft.
Whether you're writing a book or a three word headline, starting with a daily habit of these skills will transform you from mediocre to to great!
They sound simplistic but they're not. It takes work. It takes practice. It takes time. Just like any talent or skill, habits create masters.
1. Become a Critical Thinker.
What separates poor from great writers? Critical thinking.
You can do tons of research on a topic, write beautiful words on paper, and have an article that is error free. You can learn everything about story structure and all the rules that come with it, such as formatting,?language and?grammar rules, but applying your ideas effectively in an actual piece of writing requires critical thinking. But without critical thinking, your words often fall flat. Without a lot of breadth and depth you risk losing your reader's attention and just delivering a lot of empty sentences and paragraphs. Critical thinking gives your work clarity, color, and meaning.
According to the Texas A&M University Writing Center,?critical thinking?is "the ability to view any object of study from multiple perspectives, to recognize the cultural, ideological, and cognitive frames (or schemata) we bring to understanding."
Critical thinking is also the act of observing, analyzing, collecting, grouping, and strategizing what you're thinking. The purpose is to make sense of what you're wanting to write and then write about it. The irony of that is often when you write, you also light up your critical thinking chops. It's a circular pattern that builds upon the other. While improving your thinking, you're improving your writing, and vice versa. And through it all, often times, important truths come to light that were once hidden.
Critical thinking in writing is related to research in the way you deliberately search, analyze and evaluate ideas that you'll put on paper. However, critical thinking discriminates information and ideas to ensure you pick and use only the most appropriate, concise words and paragraphs that deliver messages powerfully and with great impact on readers (The Web Writer Spotlight).
So how do you do the critical thinking thing? I like to think of it as being a journalist--looking and scrutinizing all the details and asking the hard questions. Make the WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHY, and HOW part of your investigative process.?You're looking for that nugget of truth, even if it conflicts with your assumptions and beliefs. Critical thinking often causes you to change your mind, which isn't always easy according to Stephen King, “Kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler’s heart, kill your darlings”?from On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft.
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2. Read A LOT.
"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" (Stephen King).
For me, reading is divine. I love it. I have stacks of books all over my house and office. However, carving out time to do it isn't easy. Just like writing, you have to make time, or get creative. Each morning when I take my 30-minute commute to work, I listen to a book on tape. I also spend a few minutes each day before my team comes into the office and read at least one article from one of my favorite blogs: HBR.org, Copyblogger, Seth Godin's Blog, MarTech Today, and Brain Pickings.
Another way I manage to get some reading in is to have book club with my team at work. We all vote on a book and timeframe to finish it. Once it's done, we go to lunch to discuss. Other than that, I squeeze in time when I can. For example, right before bedtime you'll usually find me with a book.
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3. Write A Lot.
Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner David McCullough got it right, "Writing is thinking. To write well is to think clearly. That’s why it’s so hard."
You don't always have to start with the thought that you're going to write the next pulitzer. Take it from Anne Lamott, author of Bird by Bird. “Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere.”?As an English major in college, I first learned the value of using free writing to help stimulate new thoughts and cultivate ideas.
Don't take your first draft so seriously. Spend at least 15 to 30 minutes writing about anything that came to mind. If it's pure nonsense, oh well! But, most often with this exercise you will be able to unlock new ideas--those you wouldn't have thought of without free writing.
With free writing, there are no rules--no right or wrong answers. You are not judged or graded. You are uninhibited and can therefore write whatever flows onto your paper.
If you feel stuck when trying to figure out a topic to write on, I would suggest starting with writing prompts. You can talk about your favorite toy as a kid or how much you hated or loved school lunches as a kid.
To keep track of your writing, I recommend a tool I use often, 750 Words. It's free, easy to use, and private and a great way to stay on track with your writing. It will email you and let you know when you're slacking!
Wrapping It Up
If you've gotten to the end of this article, good work. You've just added at least 5 minutes to today's reading tally! Now go and spend 5 more and write a few sentences about this articles takeaways.