"write like you talk."
I never realized those would be the most difficult instructions and advice regarding my current and hopefully, future craft. Yet I'm still working on going from good to great, and that's the stumbling block.
But how do I talk? There's never a straight way with me. There is:
1) the academic way, which is circular and overly wordy, descended from bullshitting in class discussions.
2) the nervous way, which derives from stumbling around due to a sheer lack of confidence in the newsroom and in most other situations in life. There's a lot of babbling
3) the way I talk to my mother, which is as straightforward as I get.
#3 is probably how I ought to write, but how to believe in yourself enough to feel like you can write that way and not feel like it's not enough?
But how do I talk? There's never a straight way with me. There is:
1) the academic way, which is circular and overly wordy, descended from bullshitting in class discussions.
2) the nervous way, which derives from stumbling around due to a sheer lack of confidence in the newsroom and in most other situations in life. There's a lot of babbling
3) the way I talk to my mother, which is as straightforward as I get.
#3 is probably how I ought to write, but how to believe in yourself enough to feel like you can write that way and not feel like it's not enough?