Know Your Learning Style

Thought for the week:

"You may have a fresh start any moment you choose, 

for this thing that we call failure is not the falling down, 

but the staying down."

—Mary Pickford

NOTE: Learning Style Tips gleaned from exercises in our College Writing Skills textbook and MyWritingLab.com (I LOVE that program!) and recapped in the weekly course newsletter. 

Your learning style guides how you study and the best ways for you to learn and retain information. So, it's important to consider these questions:

What kind of learner are you? What strategies can you use in your classes to meet your learning style?
• If you are an applied learner, use case studies, examples, and practical applications.
• If you are a conceptual learner, organize information into main ideas and examples.
• If you are an auditory learner, tape record lectures and form study groups to discuss lecture content.
• If you are a visual learner, create visual aids such as maps, charts, and diagrams of course content.
• If you are a social learner, take courses involving class discussion and form study groups whenever possible.
• If you are an independent learner, take courses that use a traditional lecture –exam or independent study format.
• If you are a spatial learner, use outlining, visualization, and mapping techniques.
• If you are a verbal learner, discuss steps, processes, and procedures with classmates or instructors.
• If you are a creative learner, take courses that involve exploration, experimentation, and discussion.
• If you are a pragmatic learner, write out a list of steps, processes, and procedures.

Writing Discpline

Discipline is a big part of working as a professional writer. It's important to focus on the task at hand, but I may take a short break to play with new ideas if I hit a lag and need to get the creative juices flowing. After my deadline is met, however, I will have plenty of ideas waiting. How do I decide which to pursue next? I consider two things: exhilaration and marketing. With which of these ideas am I most intrigued? Which will maintain my interest during all the stages of writing–including repeatedly revising and polishing? Once I've selected the three most promising, I'll consider markets. This is especially important for nonfiction. If it won't sell, why spend the time  working on it? Of course, trends change and an idea that may not interest an editor today may interest him in 2-3 months or 2-3 years.

Make Your Clay

Earlier this week I finally had a chance to catch up with a dear friend. We went for a walk on the beach and talked about writing. Since she has taken my writing classes in the past (that’s actually how I met her), she reminded me about something I tell my students at all levels: "make your clay and then worry about details later."

What do I mean by this? A writer’s draft is the medium of our craft which we shape and refine during revision. The real work of writing comes during revision. As writers we need to make our clay, meaning getting the words out of our heads and onto paper where we can then work and rework those words into a finished manuscript. If we were painters, we would have brushes, paints, palette, and paper or canvas to use to create our work. If we were potters, we would begin with a lump of clay and mold, shape, and work in details.

Writers, too, need something to work with--something to shape, trim away excess, add in detail, refine and illuminate. So I encourage all my writers to finish (or nearly finish) a draft before they focus on revising. Why? It’s easier to trim away the excess and add in details, develop a character, refine a plot line, and so on, if you have your basic three-part structure in place. It’s not set in stone. Word processing programs make it (thankfully) easy to move, cut, and add (and return to a previous version if necessary). But, once the words are in black type on white paper or screen, it gives the writer something to see and work with, much like the clay used by potters and sculptors.

Having something concrete to shape takes away the tension of revision for newer writers. Viewing the draft as something that includes debris or flaws to pick out takes the pressure off of creating a "perfect" first draft. The key word is "first," since many writers create multiple "drafts" before a polished piece is sent to an editor. Incidentally, the editor then refers to that much-revision MS as the “first draft,” since it is his or her first go-round in editing it.

Writing in "snippets"

     My workshop students often express how they struggle in finding time to write. I always share my “snippets of time” suggestion: if you can carve out 15-20 minutes here and there, you can write a few paragraphs at a time until your draft is finished. Then you revise 20 minutes at a time.

      Basically, if you want to write badly enough, you’ll find time, even if it’s snippets of time. My students appear dubious. Have I really done this?

     I have. For about five years, when I worked a full-time day job, this was the only way I could write. I used my “snippets” during my lunch break. Later, when I found a job that allowed me to arrange a 4-day work week, I still used the “snippets” to work on one magazine article a week. At this job I receive an entire hour as a lunch break. Though I didn’t need an entire hour to eat, I did need to get away from my desk so I’d spend the rest of my lunch hour researching the next article topic, reading a book about writing, writing a few paragraphs, drafting a cover or query letter, or researching markets. Every Monday on my way to work I’d mail off a manuscript or query letter.

      Eventually, the credits added up, led to other writing credits, and finally to my first book series: Kids Throughout History for the PowerKids imprint of Rosen Publishing. When I took on that project, I left that 4-day-a-week job for a half-time job at the District Library in that town. That job offered resources and encouragement from library staff and patrons. I doubled my output of writing—and accumulated bylines. 

     Now that I write full-time and teach part-time, I still use snippets on occasion. This method comes in especially handy during Season when the number of writing workshops I teach increases and it seems I’m teaching more than I’m writing. I can always find 20 minutes here or there to create a paragraph or a page at a time because writing is that important to me.

All Things Writing

Words are my business! I write, I edit, I teach, I create and give presentations. Obviously words are important to me. They've fascinated me since before I could read. As a writer and educator I enjoy sharing all I've learned during 25 years as a professional writer. So, when I'm not writing or teaching (college, elementary arts enrichment, and writing workshops), I enjoy coaching other writers of all levels.

New writers need help with craft, with how best to weave their words into captivating tales. Other writers need motivation and encouragement when the rejections arrive. Even established authors benefit from someone who truly understands this business. And, it never hurts to have someone to be accountable to in reaching those writing goals. For all these writers, I've created this blog. I'll focus on the craft of writing, words, the writing process, and publishing. 

Click the links if you're looking for my "wonderings and wanderings," visit my website for more about me and my books. For news about upcoming programs visit "Lisa Wroble Writing" on Facebook.