Curators Selected 7 of My Stories About Writing
Online writing is more of a craft than an art
What is art and what is craft — it is a matter of debate. But I think online writing and blogging is more of a skill than an art form. Still, it retains an element of art.
But a writer cannot achieve much without learning the craft. Excellent writers are, I believe, both natural and cultivated. Ideas are only half the story.
If a writer doesn’t learn to compose smart sentences, to follow the guidelines, then there is the chance that the digital page will be filled with the equivalent of Facebook posts. They may go viral, but the posts have no depth and move no heart.
A craft is as respectable as an art if it pays your bills. But the art that makes you look for a day job is not, well, good enough.
Charles Dickens earned money by editing a magazine — Household Words. Most of us, like Chartrand, shouldn’t kid ourselves into thinking that our writing is “art.”
I believe our work is art’s training field. The more skilled you become at your craft, the more the chance that one day you’d fill the digital page with genuine art.
Here are some of my stories that Medium curators selected for the writing topic page — for their artiness or their craftiness:
7. How to Write 10x Engaging Stuff Within 24 Hours With a Simple Habit Change
If you have not been listening to gossip, checking messages, or watching youtube for 24 hours, you may even begin to realize what you are supposed to do, i.e., write engaging stories using your imagination.
6. Story Templating Can Help You Write First Drafts 2x More Efficiently
Story templating means that you pick any story or article and use it as a template. It must be written by someone you really like. Somebody you would want to emulate.
5. Why Reading Is Becoming Skimming on the Internet
The writers have only ten seconds to persuade the reader. The readers do not forgive because their time is valuable. In a fast-paced information-centric world, they can spare only ten seconds to evaluate if the writer fulfills their information needs before opting out.
4. A Successful Uncontroversial Style Is Hard to Find
I have tried to explain the writing styles of bestselling authors in simple words. When one publisher gave J.K. Rowling’s manuscript to his daughter to read, she kept asking for more. Over the years, she has sold over 450 million copies of Harry Potter to children all over the world.
3. Ask Yourself ‘What Makes You A Good Writer?’
It is one question, but it will keep giving you new answers every day.
When I am not writing, I am learning to make my style more exciting — somehow. Does my work say what I want to say?
2. If Your Writing Is Not Smart, Original and Creative
Imagine a world where you could do anything, and it was perfectly legal to copy ideas that belonged to other writers. Assume there were no intellectual property rights and no legal consequences.
1. How to Take Your Writing Less Seriously
You are writing original stuff. You are creating material from the depths of your soul. Right? If you are not having fun writing your stories, your readers will feel your too serious tone in your writing.
In a fast-paced world, you have to write high-quality stuff more frequently. These tools can save you some time and trouble.
You don’t buy every book when you go to a book store. You read the book reviews for guidance. The curation is a review of your written piece — by Medium. What Medium wants and what you can do about it — an explanation of the requirements for successful curation.
