Nice piece! Thought a lot of this was really useful for previous me, when I was doing a PhD... unfortunately abandoned in a tsunami of chronic illness and anxiety about bloody writing. Mind and body in conspiracy for badness... It took me a long time to allow myself to fold. But (finally) a good decision nonetheless. So your thoughts are really pertinent for me if I let myself sink into Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda... but thankfully I don't.
I’m a management consultant and, oddly, there’s a lot here that resonates. I do *a lot* of discovery interviews (what’s going on/ what’s going wrong/ who’s the issue) and it’s about looking for the theme and the story. I love the detective (nosy!) element of my work and weaving together a compelling diagnosis
I am also constantly astonished at what people tell me! It’s like the act of being really listened to, by anyone, for any reason, people will use it to say what they need to say, regardless of the question asked
Meditations on writing are helpful. My favourite tip from Stephen King’s book on the subject was a good practical exercise for the down time - seek out and destroy every adverb that you have written. All redundant (usually).
That’s a good one. In a similar way, Alan Bennett pretty much only used “said” in Talking Heads, even though the speakers were relaying lots of dialogue. He found that it sounded way too arch to have people going “as she explained,” “she clarified,” “she shouted” etc
I think Hemingway also practiced that use of the verb, "to say," almost to the exclusion of any other form --- no, "He opined," "He stated apologetically," "He breathed passionately," " He exclaimed darkly," none of that.
On the other hand, "I miss you every day" is expressive, but "I yearn for you tragically" invites much more scrutiny and possibly laughter. So mixed in combination, you could get, "He said, `I yearn for you tragically,' but Nately's paramour understood he
After a day spent writing for 3 hours or so and feeling tired today, your comment about the maximum writing capacity was an excellent reminder of limits. The three things and detail points were particularly useful. Thank you.
Your point about the importance of details reminds me of a Stephen Fry column in which he complained about showing up for an interview in full biker leathers and skid-lid, and the interviewer started the piece with "Tweedy Stephen Fry..."
One of my friends describes political journalism as the “war of facts against narrative.” But this is also just bad journalism: think how many great, headline-generating Qs you can get from biker Stephen Fry: is this a midlife crisis? What do people say when they clock it’s you? Isn’t it very dangerous? Have you had any near-misses?
Simply fantastic. This piece I have saved. So many great points. But my favorite: At the end of every day, finish your writing by stopping halfway through a thought. That way, there is a small task to complete the next day, helping you navigate the hardest movement in a writer’s life: sitting down at your desk. Excellent suggestion.
“The best way is always to stop when you are going good and when you know what will happen next. If you do that every day when you are writing a novel, you will never be stuck” – Ernest Hemingway
Thank you--this is fantastically interesting and helpful.
One question: it says to know the difference between story and plot but unless I'm missing something it doesn't spell out what that difference is, but mostly says keep to the narrative and don't just shove anything in.
Ah, ok. Plot is the incidents, so: A man arrives at a mental hospital. He is taken to a cell where he meets an old man. The old man plays him a tune and asks if he recognises it. He doesn’t.
^^ that’s the plot of Amadeus. The story is how a prodigy arrived in Vienna and displaced the court composer, and the Court composer had his revenge by poisoning the prodigy. You write a plot to serve the broader story.
Thank you! I had it almost exactly the opposite way. Thanks for clarification.
I have a dim memory of reading Forster's Aspects of the Novel which (as I understood it) distinguishes between story as the king died and then the queen died and plot being the king died and then the queen died of grief. I.e. plot = story + causality.
Oh maybe that’s a better way of thinking of it. Either way it’s good to distinguish between the effect you want and which particular building blocks you choose to create it.
A glimpse inside another writer's process is fascinating and instructive. There's so much to take away from this and consider when I next sit down to write a longer piece. Thanks so much for sharing.
This was great, Helen. So many useful tips. The stand-out for me was six months on a longread article. I've been stressing about researching for my book for three months. Now I feel much more chill!
Thanks. Wish I'd read this half a century ago when I was doing interviews. But still the last thought, Park downhill, remains brilliant advice as I approach my 80th birthday.
I really enjoyed reading this. It's very good to see what a real journalist does laid out so clearly, and I'm sure the advice will apply much more widely.
"Or is it just … an interesting thing that happened?" This is one of the hardest parts about writing and editing. Everything seems so damned interesting!
Fictional (as in novel) writing also uses plot/story/theme so it’s worth meditating on those. And technical writing reminds me of something else important--most of the time, one sentence should very logically pick up from the preceding one.
Nice piece! Thought a lot of this was really useful for previous me, when I was doing a PhD... unfortunately abandoned in a tsunami of chronic illness and anxiety about bloody writing. Mind and body in conspiracy for badness... It took me a long time to allow myself to fold. But (finally) a good decision nonetheless. So your thoughts are really pertinent for me if I let myself sink into Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda... but thankfully I don't.
So interesting thank you Helen :)
I’m a management consultant and, oddly, there’s a lot here that resonates. I do *a lot* of discovery interviews (what’s going on/ what’s going wrong/ who’s the issue) and it’s about looking for the theme and the story. I love the detective (nosy!) element of my work and weaving together a compelling diagnosis
I am also constantly astonished at what people tell me! It’s like the act of being really listened to, by anyone, for any reason, people will use it to say what they need to say, regardless of the question asked
Meditations on writing are helpful. My favourite tip from Stephen King’s book on the subject was a good practical exercise for the down time - seek out and destroy every adverb that you have written. All redundant (usually).
That’s a good one. In a similar way, Alan Bennett pretty much only used “said” in Talking Heads, even though the speakers were relaying lots of dialogue. He found that it sounded way too arch to have people going “as she explained,” “she clarified,” “she shouted” etc
I think Hemingway also practiced that use of the verb, "to say," almost to the exclusion of any other form --- no, "He opined," "He stated apologetically," "He breathed passionately," " He exclaimed darkly," none of that.
On the other hand, "I miss you every day" is expressive, but "I yearn for you tragically" invites much more scrutiny and possibly laughter. So mixed in combination, you could get, "He said, `I yearn for you tragically,' but Nately's paramour understood he
was both serious and joking."
Nice writing tips, Helen!
After a day spent writing for 3 hours or so and feeling tired today, your comment about the maximum writing capacity was an excellent reminder of limits. The three things and detail points were particularly useful. Thank you.
this is great
Your point about the importance of details reminds me of a Stephen Fry column in which he complained about showing up for an interview in full biker leathers and skid-lid, and the interviewer started the piece with "Tweedy Stephen Fry..."
One of my friends describes political journalism as the “war of facts against narrative.” But this is also just bad journalism: think how many great, headline-generating Qs you can get from biker Stephen Fry: is this a midlife crisis? What do people say when they clock it’s you? Isn’t it very dangerous? Have you had any near-misses?
Simply fantastic. This piece I have saved. So many great points. But my favorite: At the end of every day, finish your writing by stopping halfway through a thought. That way, there is a small task to complete the next day, helping you navigate the hardest movement in a writer’s life: sitting down at your desk. Excellent suggestion.
“The best way is always to stop when you are going good and when you know what will happen next. If you do that every day when you are writing a novel, you will never be stuck” – Ernest Hemingway
Thank you--this is fantastically interesting and helpful.
One question: it says to know the difference between story and plot but unless I'm missing something it doesn't spell out what that difference is, but mostly says keep to the narrative and don't just shove anything in.
What am I missing?
Thanks very much.
Ah, ok. Plot is the incidents, so: A man arrives at a mental hospital. He is taken to a cell where he meets an old man. The old man plays him a tune and asks if he recognises it. He doesn’t.
^^ that’s the plot of Amadeus. The story is how a prodigy arrived in Vienna and displaced the court composer, and the Court composer had his revenge by poisoning the prodigy. You write a plot to serve the broader story.
Thank you! I had it almost exactly the opposite way. Thanks for clarification.
I have a dim memory of reading Forster's Aspects of the Novel which (as I understood it) distinguishes between story as the king died and then the queen died and plot being the king died and then the queen died of grief. I.e. plot = story + causality.
Anyway: thanks very much for this.
Oh maybe that’s a better way of thinking of it. Either way it’s good to distinguish between the effect you want and which particular building blocks you choose to create it.
This is all very interesting and gives me much to contemplate.
Thank you!
The story of Mozart and Salieri , I think, was originally a play by Pushkin.
A glimpse inside another writer's process is fascinating and instructive. There's so much to take away from this and consider when I next sit down to write a longer piece. Thanks so much for sharing.
This was great, Helen. So many useful tips. The stand-out for me was six months on a longread article. I've been stressing about researching for my book for three months. Now I feel much more chill!
Thanks. Wish I'd read this half a century ago when I was doing interviews. But still the last thought, Park downhill, remains brilliant advice as I approach my 80th birthday.
I really enjoyed reading this. It's very good to see what a real journalist does laid out so clearly, and I'm sure the advice will apply much more widely.
"Or is it just … an interesting thing that happened?" This is one of the hardest parts about writing and editing. Everything seems so damned interesting!
So good and so useful. Thank you
In a thing I wrote recently, I described someone by their blue hair only. 😊 Feel so good about that decision now. Thank you.
How might this relate to fictional writing, or technical writing. I can see overlap, though not much? Any thoughts?
Fictional (as in novel) writing also uses plot/story/theme so it’s worth meditating on those. And technical writing reminds me of something else important--most of the time, one sentence should very logically pick up from the preceding one.