How to Be a Writer: Building Your Creative Skills Through Practice and Play

148 Pages·2016·1.41 MB·English

by  Baig Barbara.

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HOW TO BE A
writer

Building Your Creative Skills
Through Practice and Play
BARBARA BAIG
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How to Be a Writer © 2010 by Barbara Baig. Manufactured in the United States of America. All rights reserved. No other part of this book may be
reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from
the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review. Published by Writer's Digest Books, an imprint of F+W Media, Inc., 4700
East Galbraith Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45236. [phone]. First edition.
For more resources for writers, visit www.writersdigest.com/books.
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Distributed in Canada by Fraser Direct, 100 Armstrong Avenue, Georgetown, Ontario, Canada L7G 5S4, Tel:
[phone]. Distributed in the U.K. and Europe by F+W Media International, Brunel House, Newton Abbot,
Devon, TQ12 4PU, England, Tel: (+44) 1626-323200, Fax: (+44) 1626-323319, E-mail:
[email protected]. Distributed in Australia by Capricorn Link, P.O. Box 704, Windsor, NSW 2756
Australia, Tel: [phone].
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Baig, Barbara.
How to be a writer / by Barbara Baig. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-1-58297-805-5 (pbk. : alk. paper)
eISBN 13: 978-1-5996-3202-5
1. Authorship — Vocational guidance. I. Title.
PN147.B25 2010
808′.02023 — dc22
2009044790
Edited by Kelly Nickell and Scott Francis
Designed by Claudean Wheeler
Cover illustration by Natasha R. Graham/ iStockphoto
Production coordinated by Debbie Thomas
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PRAISE FOR BARBARA BAIG AND HOW TO BE A WRITER
“If you are a writer in search of your unique voice, creative authority, and natural way with words, make How to Be
a Writer the first book you read. Aspiring communicators in any genre will benefit from Barbara's sound, timeless
advice on the importance of skill-building, learning by doing, and making the most of the frustration certain to arise
along the way. You'll walk away with a more complete understanding of how successful writing happens and how
you can tap into your own innate writing ability.”
— Christina Katz, author of Get Known Before the Book Deal and Writer Mama
“Barbara Baig's approach to writing as ‘practice and play’ makes good sense — and yet we've never heard it
before. In strong, clear, humorous prose, Barbara teaches writers skills they can use right away to start making
the writing process their own.”
— Janet Pocorobba, Assistant Professor and Coordinator, Lesley University MFA Program in Creative Writing
“Barbara Baig's passion for teaching writing infuses every lesson she offers. She demystifies the most complex
writing techniques and makes them accessible to all writers.”
— Lisa Robinson, M.D., Child Psychiatrist in private practice, Instructor in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School
“Barbara is a wonderful and inspiring writing teacher, offering clear and helpful suggestions and enthusiastic
support!”
— Liz Walker, M.Div., host of Better Living on WCVB Television and former CBS4 (WBZ-TV, Boston) news anchor
“I have been writing stories for children for many years and wrote many memoranda and briefs during my career
as an attorney, but I still found the course I took from Barbara invaluable to my growth as a writer. Any guide to
writing that Barbara authors will be a welcome and well thumbed addition to my bookshelf.”
— Laurie A. Jacobs, author, A Box of Candles, Winner of the 2005 National Jewish Book Award for Family
Literature
“Barbara Baig is that rare writing teacher who has a great deal to offer experienced writers as well as those new
to the craft. She inspires students and gives them the tools to hone their craft — no matter what level they begin
on.”
— Karen Rafinski, award-winning medical and science journalist
“For anyone who worries that writers are born, not made, nothing is more terrifying than a blank page waiting to
be filled. Barbara Baig takes the mystery out of the process and shows that, with a little practice and an open
mind, good writing can come to anyone.”
— Jumana Farouky, former student, now Associate Editor, TIME magazine
“Any writer, beginner or experienced, will benefit from reading Barbara Baig's book. She shows us how to develop
the skills we need as writers and, best of all, she removes the pressure to produce a finished piece before we are
ready. Instead, she invites us to enjoy the freedom of practicing writing in our own time and at our own pace, and
she sets out in clear, convincing words how the practice of writing can free up the writer within all of us…”
— Dorothy Stephens, author of Kwa Heri Means Good-Bye: Memories of Kenya, 1957–59
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“Get ready to take your writing ideas across the finish line by learning the skills and strategies that will give you
confidence — and get you practicing.”
— Sage Cohen, author of Writing the Life Poetic and The Productive Writer
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About the Author
Barbara Baig has devoted herself for almost three decades to the practices of writing and teaching. She has
conducted dozens of writing workshops and classes for adults and college students, and was the writing instructor
at Harvard Divinity School for twenty years. She now teaches in the MFA Program in Creative Writing at Lesley
University.
Her website is www.wherewriterslearn.com
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Table of Contents
WELCOME:
SECTION 1: GETTING STARTED
CHAPTER 1: What Is Writing Practice (and How Do I Do It)?
CHAPTER 2: Starting the Journey
CHAPTER 3: Waking Up the Content-Mind: The Basic Practices
SECTION 2: A WRITER'S POWERS
CHAPTER 4: Creativity
CHAPTER 5: Memory and Expertise
CHAPTER 6: Observation
CHAPTER 7: Imagination
CHAPTER 8: The Subconscious
CHAPTER 9: Curiosity
CHAPTER 10: The Sherlock Holmes School of Writing
SECTION 3: MOVING TOWARD READERS
CHAPTER 11: Tools for Developing Your Material
CHAPTER 12: Your Relationship with Readers
CHAPTER 13: Telling Stories
CHAPTER 14: Voice
CHAPTER 15: A Few Words on Words
SECTION 4: REQUIRED WRITING
CHAPTER 16: Do I Have to Write That?
CHAPTER 17: Getting It Written
SECTION 5: STAYING ON THE PATH
CHAPTER 18: Walking the Writer's Way
APPENDIX: A Writer's Bookshelf
NOTES
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
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Welcome
When many people write, they struggle and suffer. Perhaps you are one of them: If so, this book is for you.
Or perhaps you love to write and want to get better at it. This book is for you, too.
Or perhaps you long to explore the world of “creative writing” but aren't sure where to begin. This book is for you
as well.
This book is a guide to the basics of writing — a very different kind of guide from other writing books. It will not
give you strategies for getting published, nor will it show you techniques for digging deep into your psyche. It will
not teach you grammar or how to write a best-selling novel. Instead it will show you how to develop certain basic
and essential skills that all writers need, whether they are just beginning to write or have gotten blocked or
confused somewhere along the way.
What sets this book apart is that it sees writing as a certain kind of work, work that anyone can learn how to do,
and to do well. You don't need some magical quality called “talent” or “inspiration”; you need skills. Unfortunately,
these skills are rarely taught in school, or even in most writing workshops. So when many people sit down to write,
they are held back because they simply don't have the skills they need. And then they usually blame themselves: I
don't have any talent. I must be stupid. But the fault is not theirs; the fault lies with an educational system that has
not provided them with the basic skills they need to do a writer's work.
Many people are also held back from developing their abilities as writers because of a pervading myth that the
only “real” writers are those who are born with the skills they need. That's nonsense. Writing skills can be acquired
by anyone who is willing to put time and energy into the process of acquiring them. You don't have to be born with
writing skills: You can learn them. This book will show you how to do that.
THE REAL WORK OF WRITING
When we learn how to write, though, what exactly is it that we are learning? Answers to this question differ. Some
people believe that all we need to learn are grammar and spelling, rules and formulas. Other people say that
writing is thinking on paper. Still others are convinced that learning to write means “freeing your creativity” or
“expressing yourself.” I take yet another approach, one that I believe is both comprehensive and practical.
To write is to do a certain kind of work: the work of communication on paper. Skilled writers, in any genre, do not
see themselves as producing texts — that's merely the academic view of writing. Nor do they see themselves as
engaging only in self-expression; to light a candle, play some soothing music, and let the words flow can indeed be
therapeutic, but it's unlikely to produce writing that anyone else will want to read. No matter what kind of writing
they do, skilled writers see themselves as communicators; they have something to say, and they want to get that
“something” into the minds of their readers.
As with any activity, if you want to do the work of writing, you need particular skills. A baseball player who wants
to become a good hitter needs to know how to keep his eye on the pitched ball and how to swing the bat properly.
A pianist needs to know how to read music and move her fingers over the keyboard. Just like athletes or
musicians, writers need particular skills.
First, writers need to know how to come up with content for a piece of writing. They need to be able to find
subjects to write about and to discover the things they want to say about those subjects. No matter what kind of
writing you are doing, whether it be a short story or a poem or an office memo, it must have content.
Second, writers need to be able to consider their readers. Skilled writers know how to grab their readers' attention
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