Writing To Learn --- The open secret writers rarely write about

(Reading time: 5 – 8 minutes)

I have a secret weapon for writing. Actually it’s not really secret… it’s more like an “open secret.” Something that a very large number of prolific writers leverage, but don’t much discuss. It’s not that they don’t want you to know what this secret is… it’s that it’s so embedded that no one ever thinks about talking about it.

Turns out it’s really simple too.

But it is hard work, and maybe that’s why a lot of people shy away.

Speaking of hard work, have you ever noticed that a person making 10 times what you make isn’t working 10 times harder? Why is that? They sure aren’t working 10 times as many hours. Now that’s a secret I want to learn!

So what is this secret-that’s-not-a-secret about writing, and why is it so hard?

That’s a very good question.

The not-so-secret-secret

Here’s the not-so-secret secret: if you want to learn about something, write about it. That’s what I do (← key word, “do”). And I’ve learned a lot by writing, for example, geology and engineering in college. Writing about programming has taught me as much programming as the programming, learning to write, by writing about writing, and learning how to build websites, by… writing about building websites.

Finding your writing advantage

As it turns out, there’s a couple of books I highly recommend, Murray’s “Write to Learn” and Zinsser’s “Writing to Learn.” These two books have similar titles, but that are very different in focus. One is “strategic, the other “tactical.” Both are inspirational, yet highly practical and packed chock full of information you can use immediately. I recommend getting both, right now, but only if you’re truly and fully committed to your writing enterprise.

Writing to Learn

Writing to Learn by William Zinsser helps you understand the “strategy” of writing as an integral part of your learning process. Zinsser uses personal stories and stories of teachers and others to drive this point home: writing develops critical thinking, analysis and synthesis skills applicable to success in any field, even in science and engineering, both popularly more associated with skill at numbers rather than words.

You will benefit in several ways from Zinsser’s examples:

Secrets to success enabled by writing in fields ranging from the study of sea turtles and insects, to…
How imposing a narrative shape on non-fiction writing is key to reader’s enjoyment and understanding… and your own. [p. 30]
Some “bad rules” for writing, hilariously proposed by a geologist/musician, which will make you stop and think about your own writing.

“Writing to Learn” is not only instructive, it’s highly readable. I recommend you purchase your copy immediately.

Write to Learn

In contrast to the high level, strategic overview provided by Zinsser, Donald M. Murray’s Write to Learn makes you roll your sleeves and get to work! Murray takes a very tactical point of view and delivers page after page of time-tested techniques that will improve anyone’s writing. Here are several ways Murray helps you learn by writing:

The secret to “unblocking writer’s block,” laid out in 26 steps. These steps work for me and they will work for you! (I’ve discovered many of these independently, I guarantee they will work for you.)
How to learn from other writers… writer’s are each others most important resource, which you should be leveraging to mutual advantage.
When—and how—to revive a dead draft. Don’t throw it, turn that lump of coal into a diamond!

I really enjoyed Murray’s book, and if you do any sort of writing at all, you owe this one to yourself.

How you can write to learn

Writing to learn isn’t the only productivity weapon in my war chest. But it’s the most reliable tool I know once the “fast” and “easy” ways are played out. Try these write-to-learn techniques the next time you’re stuck on something.

Breaking a vicious circle. Apply pressure anywhere until the circle breaks. Suppose you want to make money on the internet. A fine and noble notion. But you don’t know where to start. Well, start anywhere, and write down everything as you go.
Suppose you are stuck between link building, creating content and building traffic. Each of these activities depends on the other to obtain good results and long term readers. But which to master first? Doesn’t matter. Pick one and go, documenting everything you do as a tutorial for yourself.

Smashing vicious circles by focused concentration is a repeatedly proven technique for building skills.
Clearing out confusion. When you can’t see the bigger picture, sort out all the moving parts first. First write a description of all the pieces, then write, in detail, how the pieces fit together. Read this article on the anatomy of a blog post for an example of how I cleared out some confusion I had on blog posting.
Write about something else. When you are absolutely stuck, strike out on a tangent. You will either come back to your original point… or you will find that your initial conception was broken, and the new direction works much better.

Writing helps prepare you for epiphany

In each case just listed, once you have written a certain amount, the lightbulb in your head will go off, and you will acquire sudden and instant understanding. It’s like magic. If you haven’t experienced it, you owe it to yourself to “write to learn.”

If you’re really serious about strengthening your writing, go ahead, buy both of these books. If you aren’t absolutely delighted with them, you send them both to me with your receipt, and I’ll refund your money. I’m serious. I have no problem with that because I will simply gift them to friends or give them away as part of a business promotion (offer expires October 31, 2009).

>>>NOTE: I did not say (above) “If you want to learn to do something, write about it.” Because that doesn’t work. If you want to learn to do something, you need to go do it. And that includes writing.