Editor’s Choice — Top 10: A Craftsman Who Writes Is Better Than a Professor Who Doesn’t

You must read at least 10 well-written stories to motivate yourself to write

You can soothe your writing anxiety by telling yourself that writing is craftsmanship. Imperfections in your writing cause you to suspend work. But you can learn to write well. Writing is a process.

Imagine you were a professor who believed he knew everything. Or he wanted others to believe he knew everything. Now feel the stress levels as you wrote a new story. Would you feel comfortable writing when — deep in your heart — you knew there was so much you didn’t know?

What you can do is to get ready to write. Arrange your tools. Trust yourself that you can write, and start writing. The moment you write — and immediately delete your first word — you are writing. Writing, deleting, rewriting, adjusting, changing, adding, and checking if your words make sense — that is the writing process, or writing.

The ethic of craftsmanship involves a willingness to focus, directly and methodically, on what we don’t yet know so that we can learn how to work with ever- increasing skill. ~Joli Jensen

Writing is not a creative process happening entirely beyond your conscious control. Many writers have declared writing to be a craft. The name of Stephen King’s book is On Writing A Memoir of the Craft. He calls writing a craft many times, and his recommended way to learn is to enjoy your reading, “I’m a slow reader, but I usually get through seventy or eighty books a year, mostly fiction. I don’t read in order to study the craft; I read because I like to read.” William Faulkner agreed with Stephen King, he wrote, “That’s a very good way to learn the craft of writing — from reading.” William Zinsser insists, “Writing is a craft, not an art.” Richard Rhodes summed it up as, “Writing is a craft and, like all craft, proceeds by stages: conception, material selection, rough shaping, detailed shaping, sanding and finishing.”

Patricia Nelson Limerick, a historian of the American West, urges us to use carpenters and other artisans as “the emotional model for writers.”

Limerick says writing isn’t about ‘existential trauma.’ We can write our emotions without feeling tormented in any way.

When we imagine ourselves as aspirants, trying to sound smart enough to join an exclusive elite, we fall prey to all kinds of writing-deflecting drama. ~Joli Jensen

Instead of pretending to be a creative genius, you can call yourself a gardener, a carpenter, or a plumber. It would make your writing less stressful — and you’d be able to start your writing process more often.

Now let’s read our top 10 masters of the craft:

10. Brain Plasticity and The Reason Why We Dream

Vinicius Monteiro is a software engineer who believes writing is the best tool for learning. His writing style is formal, informative, and engaging. If you always wanted to know why we dream, don’t miss this one. Also, please check his other work.

Brain plasticity is the brain’s ability to adapt and reorganize as we interact with the world. In the book Livewired: The Inside Story of the Ever-Changing Brain is a non-fiction book, the neuroscientist and author David Eagleman, gives insight into what happens if someone has half a brain, why we dream and other mind-blowing explanations.

We are accustomed to thinking the areas in the brain are fixed in place, being each one responsible for a specific part of the body. However, it’s rather very dynamic. We are only born with rudimentary neurons, not fully preprogrammed. And as we start interacting with the environment and move our body, the brain’s circuitry rewires based off of feedback from our senses and members.

9. An In-depth Review on What I Consider to be the Best Portable Gaming Systems

Christopher Harvey is a long time writer and musician. He loves to share his thoughts. But in this story, he is sharing his honest opinion on gaming systems. If you like games, don’t miss this one.

Nowadays a lot of people want to play games, wherever they might be. But the reality is that playing games come with its fair share of challenges at times. This is why you have to be committed to the process and actively find a way to make this more rewarding. Portable gaming is a way to do that, and there are some great consoles to check out.

8. Steps Toward Unity

Fleur Sauvage is Soul, Coffee, Ink, Poetry, Wellness & Healing — their words. Their writing style borders on literary nonfiction, and it’s extremely pleasant to read something so wisely written.

It is a different taste. Do read their other work. Follow them.

It’s a cool Autumn morning. So many colors swaying in unison as the wind slowly strips the trees. Brown, yellow, red; tans and oranges still tinged with green. I’m the only one out to admire this brisk beauty.

It’s hard for me not to frolic in the leaves. After all, I’m an “adult” and knowing my luck someone will be sipping their morning coffee — peering out the window just in time to see a stranger rolling around on their lawn. I don’t care to explain to the police or a shrink that enjoying the natural world is the sanest thing a person can do, so I refrain. Besides, I’m on a mission. My fitness tracker chimed issuing a challenge: First to 30,000 steps and I plan on winning. So, I continue at my pace in a virtual race with 100 other people around the world whom I’ll never meet, but I hope at least one of them can see the colors I see.

7. What Growing up in a Large Family Taught Me at an Early Age

Rebecca Romanelli is a curious learner. She enjoys nature and she is dedicated to an open mind. Her writing voice is calm, focused, and winning. You have to check her other work as well.

We kids taught, tortured and loved each other as daily lessons piled on at a rapid rate. Our dynamics were easily captured in the annual Xmas photo session we all dreaded. Do you have any idea how long it took for one halfway decent shot? Hours.

The overexposed photo above was probably the 30th take from my dad’s manually timed camera. My mother had been reduced to casting her eyes to the heavens for neural relief. The nose pickers, bird flippers, bathroom breakers and teen scowler antics had morphed our faces into frozen smiles.

6. How I Got Rid of Seasonal Depression

Lacey Quintel loves to write about health and wellness. She is an exceptional writer. She is sharing her personal experiences in this story. I think every one of us needs to get rid of Covid depression. Highly recommended reading.

Covid has weighed heavily on many people and their mental health. But this is normal life for me: I’m used to the chaos. I spend some days in a constant battle with myself. I have Bipolar disorder, but the depression worsens in the fall and winter. I suspect the lack of sunlight and the ability to get outside does it for me. (I hate being cold).

This year, I killed my seasonal depression with a few small lifestyle tweaks. 2020 has me guessing more people will battle depression than usual, so I’m going to share them with you to help you nip your depression in the bud.

5. 5 Problems With the Myth of Meritocracy

Mayra Boppre is a Brazillian in Ireland. She is a superb writer. Her writing style is simple, direct, and engaging. If you started reading this story, you would not be able to click away easily. Don’t forget to follow her.

Reflecting on recent global events, it sparked my curiosity how much the myth of meritocracy is harmful and how it’s been shaping people’s behaviour negatively.

When we believe that whatever we achieve it’s only due to a combination of hard work and pure talent, we are ignoring the fact that there’s a whole system that unfairly contributes to our successes.

Let me break the news: nothing is guaranteed. Still, people buy into the idea of a meritocracy, giving them a false sense of entitlement.

4. 3 Things to Consider Before a Commitment that Leads to Change

John Ross loves to write stories and works in the NBA. He is an excellent writer. You’ll fall in love with his writing voice. If you read this story, you’ll be waiting for his next story. Don’t miss this one.

I was talking to a couple of my roommates and one of them said, “I think it should be easier at our age (late ’30s) to just find someone you want to be with forever and do it.”

And I replied, “I think it’s kind of the opposite. When two people of our age have created these completely independent lives, it’s a lot to give up for one or the other or both.”

It’s different for every person and every relationship but it likely falls in the middle of those two responses.

3. Most People Fail Because They Do This First (Big Mistake)

Isaiah McCall is a USA Today reporter and ultramarathoner. He writes about cryptocurrency, fitness hacks, and Greek philosophy.

He is a brilliant writer. Many of his stories are about to go viral. Help him go viral by reading this masterpiece. Enjoy.

When looking at someone who has achieved much in life, we often compare ourselves to the final version:

Kobe Bryant was simply a gifted basketball player that relied on his genetics.

Stephen King was born to write; he came into the world pen in hand, ready to give us “Carrie.”

In reality, these individuals were talented, yes, but it was the unglamorous, rarely seen hard work that created the legends they became.

2. Scientists Amazingly Discover How to Control the Brain with Light

Charles Stephen is a retired scientist and an experienced online publisher. His writing style is formal and highly engaging. Do check his other work but don’t miss this one.

Have you ever heard of optogenetics?

It is an exciting new neurotech that experts are excited about.

Optogenetics is a technology that controls the brain by using different frequencies of light¹. It has blended both engineering and neurobiology to activate the workings of how brain neurons function naturally.

1. Is The Self An Illusion?

At number one, it’s Simon Spichak. He is a neuroscientist and science communicator. He is an outstanding writer.

Your self is not a constant — an intriguing idea. You are David in the morning, Alfred at noon, and Matilda in the evening — David is your brother, Alfred is your grandfather and Matilda is your mother. Think. We believe our responses change, but Simon Spichak has something more profound to say. Don’t miss this one.

The field of neuroscience is full of intriguing case-studies from which we draw our understanding of the brain. Phineas Gage had a part of his prefrontal cortex damaged by a railroad spike; afterwards, he experienced significant personality changes. Becoming more impulsive and less considerate for others, he eventually lost his job as a railroad foreman.

Final Thoughts

If your story was selected as one of the Top 10, please share another one of your stories in the comments with a brief introduction and a short review that can convince a reader to read your piece. (Please write the review in the third person and start it with your name.)

I must have missed something today. I cannot read every story on Illumination and Illumination-Curated. Dr Mehmet Yildiz, the Chief Editor and Founder of Illumination and Illumination-Curated, read, highlighted, and applauded every good story when he started his publications. He still reads almost all of the good ones. I try — and fail daily — to read all of the masterpieces.

So, help me. Help me to find and rank the best work of the writers of Illumination and Illumination-Curated.

Happy reading.

To improve your chances of success as a writer, read these highly recommended curation guidelines:

You can read my curated stories here.