Writing Tip #1: "Writing Is Like Tennis!"
I'm trying to give a writing tip a day to a student I'm tutoring this summer. There's nothing new here, but I offer it as a reminder to all writers, especially myself! (The student is an avid tennis player, so I allude to that sport a number of times.)
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Good morning!
Starting today, I'm going to send you a writing tip a day...something for you to think about, something that might make you feel more relaxed about your writing. Here goes:
Write something, anything, often...everyday. Don't be self-conscious...just write! Writing is like tennis practice. Hitting tennis balls in regular practice sessions helps you to develop a grooved swing, one that becomes natural for you, something you do in a game without even thinking.
Writing (in fact any human endeavor) is just like tennis practice. The more you do it, the more natural and beautiful it becomes. More importantly, the words, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs that flow from your brain will eventually reflect your own mind, a mind that is being formed in large part with the practice of linguistic work...and play.
I have found that, where writing is concerned, it becomes impossible for me to sense whether I am working on an assignment, or having fun...but that happened only after I had written a lot over the years. Much of that writing was not very good, but you can't learn how to do something well until you do it often.
In the beginning, most people do NOT write well, but with a lot of practice, they eventually do it better than they ever thought they could. The same will be true for you...if you write often.
Happy writing...and happy tennis!
Yours, Don
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