Prose Writing Tips

1. Start early: The blank page can be really scary. So don’t go there! Start by writing notes of any kind–about the content, the audience, the things that need to be definitely included. Put them where they are likely to show up. Add to them as you can. I like to fool myself into thinking that I’m not really writing because I’m just writing notes, but when I finally sit down to really get working, I am so glad to have those notes to build my new sentences around and revise rather than starting with nothing. (You may be different, however.)

2. Start anywhere: Because we read in order, often we think we need to write a report, article, dissertation, memoir, or whatever in order. We don’t! In fact, it’s easiest to write something like an introduction after you’ve written the bulk of the project. Perhaps because I was born and raised in California and spent half of my young life on freeways, I think of the introduction as a freeway onramp. It’s much easier to know how far the onramp is going to have to elevate or descend once the actual highway (the main body of the work) is constructed. (I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen in my and others’ work that the best introduction is the piece that the writer intended as the conclusion.)

3. Keep writing: Don’t try to perfect each word, phrase, or sentence as you go. Keep writing and getting your ideas down. After you’ve gotten your ideas down, then you can fix them up. There’s actually some brain science that suggests that the part of our brain that composes is different from the part that critiques. So try to stay in that composing mode, not worrying about correctness, as long as you have content to get down. Then, switch into revising and correcting mode.

4. Park on the downward slope: Getting into the writing mode can be difficult, so a trick to help you try to ride the wave of the last writing day is to stop in the middle of a sentence that you know exactly how you’re going to finish. So, on the new day, all you have to do is finish the sentence. Because writing often begets more writing, this can jumpstart your way into writing and keep going.

5. Write regularly: I found when writing my dissertation that if I didn’t touch it every day, some kind of psychic wall seemed to start to erect itself. Each day I didn’t work on the dissertation, the wall would grow taller and thicker. But because I was determined to finish my dissertation, eventually I’d have to start hacking at the wall, trying to work my way back in. Of course, many people do not have the ability to write every day, but I find the more I keep my head in a project, the less resistance builds up. If you’re like me, it’s worthwhile spending a bit of time figuring out how to keep engaged with the project regularly over the long haul.

Tips you’d like to add? Let me know!