Translating your thoughts into words

Source: photo taken by author.

Frequently, when I conduct a one-on-one writing conference with a student, we will discuss the difficulty in translating the seemingly clear thoughts in the student’s mind into lucid prose on the page. "I have a problem doing that," students will tell me. My customary response to that statement is something like ... "You, me and every other writer who has ever lived has the same problem. Including the professionals." The problem with comparing our own writing against the output of professional writers is that generally we are looking at an embryonic draft of our own writing but comparing it to a published version of the professional’s. The Great Gatsby did not spring word-for-word from the pen of F. Scott Fitzgerald into the letter-perfect copy of that novel with its classic art-deco cover that we are so familiar with from bookstore shelves. No doubt, Fitzgerald labored through multiple drafts to shape his novel into the finished form we see today. We just aren’t privy to that process and so can easily become discouraged with our own ongoing efforts. But Fitzgerald and every other writer who ever lived endured the same process. The principal advantage the pros have over student writers is speed (from experience). By repeated practice they have become more adept at rapidly transforming a clumsy, vague first draft into a cogent, clear final draft. And, also with experience, the first drafts of professional writers become more accomplished (but never finished or perfect), so they start revising from an elevated position. Remember, it's not a matter of intelligence but of experience, so get busy practicing!

© 2014 Bob Dial.  All rights reserved.