THE WRITER’S MIND IS A TOOL

1. The basic material needed to construct a thought world or story comes from the senses. Therefore, it is necessary to develop awareness, not just of the obvious five senses but also the single-cell senses https://www.nature.com/articles/nn.3881

2. Neurological research suggests that brains work by creating metaphorical systems from experience, which are primarily built by experience. Therefore, experience as much as possible. Really BE THERE, as the Buddhists say.

3. Learn how to research and interpret all sort of information: history, science, art forms, philosophies, geography and so on. Schematics, graphs, statistics.

4. Give particular attention to systems, both the construction and the deconstruction, as well as new options in thought, like leaving binaries in favor of spectrums.

5. Though writers are famously thought to be alcoholic, hooked on drugs, impoverished, dying of something, and so on, it is wise to take care of one’s instrument — the whole body. One writes from the brain, the body, experience, and sense of society. It may be the isolation due to stigma or pandemic that powers writing, but one can also choose isolation.

6. Read and watch as much as possible, especially if interested in one mode, whether horror, romantic comedy, rebellious politics, or idealism. Specialized vocabulary and concepts are very useful and will be absorbed easily, but be careful not to become accessible only to initiates, or you will be confined to a circle. Circles can dissolve.

7. Don’t be afraid of the subconscious: dreams, free-association exercises, sitting fallow to let it come, being with friends who are aware, therapy, even drugs. A massive amount of memory and assumption is left out by the conscious mind. Getting “writer’s block” may mean there is something you just don’t want to know. Danger should be an attraction more than a deterrent.

8. However slovenly one’s housekeeping may be (Don’t come to visit me — there’s no place to sit!) keep a system going for your writing, esp. if you respond to more than one subject. Invest in good paper and keep a supply of toner, use cardboard boxes to file if necessary, or use computer programs if you can.

9. The good thing about computer blogging is the lists, the dates of posting, and the availability on search engines. But these may disappear overnight. I archive on CD’s but that means I must keep a machine that can run them, the same as I keep an old machine to play video movies from the past. Paper is the safest but even it can be flooded or burned or just overwhelm one’s space. I regard the “cloud” as temporary and dependence on possibly hostile forces, like Facebook

10. If you have a good agent or editor or just a good friend who is willing to read and respond, that’s all to the good, but one of the great hazards is being controlled by people who have agendas and tastes that are not yours, but who want to force you into their ways. You can easy become enslaved, esp. if you are hungry. Unjust as it may be, that’s just reality.

11. Processing work for publication (even without being censored to suit the publisher) takes a lot of work. To publish is not the same thing as to write but includes line editing for errors, formatting for binding, illustration, publicity, distribution and maintaining a sales force, arranging for appearances. Managing money from sales and apportioning what belongs to the publisher also takes time as does nagging them to pay the writer. If there is a LOT of money, it may take so much time that there is no time or energy for writing — let alone motivation if fame and fortune were the only reasons for writing.

12. Apart from feedback from forces malign or benign, the general receptivity of the public is a magnetic force but it is shifty or possibly unheard by the writer or connected to monetary reward. Today there is an appetite for stories about oppression and injustice. Will that last? If you’re in Russia, it can get you killed.

13. Back to the nuts and bolts. Learning to outline sentences is the beginning of real control of words. Once you can see writing in grammatical chunks — subject, object, descriptors, prepositional phrases, subordinate clauses, gerunds, participles, and so on — you can take control of word order which is one of the secrets of good sentences. You will be able to tend to “agreement” in number, gender, tense, and so on.

Underline subjects once, verbs twice, objects with wiggly lines. Put phrases in parentheses. Etc. Look for books by the Killgallons and don’t sneer at the ones for young students. “Sentence Composing for ____School.”

You will be able to pull apart the sentences of admired writers into their order and reference. One exercise might be to write a sentence that is grammatically identical to an admired example, but with a different meaning. It helps a great deal to memorize the linking verbs and the preposition, just like learning the alphabet.

14. The poetic dimension of writing goes back to rule number one. Every word or phrase or clause has a penumbra of associations with it, raising a cloud of mood and meaning. This comes from one’s culture and reading and is very tricky for people who come to English as a second language. It is the difference among slim, thin, gaunt, skinny, and emaciated. These things refer to the senses and experience as much as to dictionary meaning. Even the truncated words of Twitter slang have that penumbra. (Like “truncated” is a word full of allusions.)

16. “Usage” is about what is customary in certain groups. It’s not a matter of virtue, but tells the reader to which group people belong. It can justify very silly things, but is generally historic. It has little or nothing to do with rational grammar or spelling.

Uses like quoting or distinguishing among homonyms like their/they’re/there or deliberately defying and exposing ironies, depend on a sub-category of writing skills that can be upgraded by buying books about “usage.” I have a short shelf of them: look for Bergen Evans or Fowler.

“Fowler’s Modern English Usage is the world-famous guide to English usage, loved and used by writers of all kinds. In keeping with its long tradition, Fowler’s gives comprehensive and practical advice on grammar, syntax, style, and choice of words. It gives a clear and authoritative picture of the English we use, and elucidates many scores of usage questions such as the split infinitive and the intricacies of political correctness.” (Amazon)

I took basic “comped out” English from Bergen Evans at NU in 1957. He relies on roots for word and likes jokes. These basic conventions are what mark “educated” people. They also help clarity.

If you come upon a pile of Reader’s Digests, from the Fifties, they were meant for people just learning these things as well as catching up with popular books, so there may be multiple choice quizzes to learn from.

15. Writing about sex or using sex, obscenity, shock, death, violence, as constituents of a style is risky. It can become boring, label the writer, limit the audience — which may be the purpose. The Anglo-Saxon words labeled vulgar are losing their punch from overuse. Even “fuck” becomes a normalized common word. Intimacy is no longer implied by the descriptions of sex. These consideration should not be deterrents to writing about these subjects — just a plea to do it well and from real knowledge instead of stereotypes.

16. A common ploy of writing teachers is to ask the student who their favorite writers are. I never told for fear of being mocked or having it signal a way into my mind that I didn’t welcome. Another hazard is naming a big shot and then having to write just like them, which is stunting, though at the time it might seem a quick way to become rich and famous — just like them IF they are indeed rich and famous. Presentation of media-created images are misleading.

17. Excellent writing may endure or may never be known at all. The reward must be in the writing itself.