Writing Brave & Free...

Author: Ted Kooser & Steve Cox
Rating: 8

Great book on writing - two reasons - (1) subject matter is broken down into tiny bitesize pieces that are easy to understand and (2) because while there are rules, there are no rules, or at least don't sweat it - the authors put the reader at ease and encourage more writing.

Highly recommended for those wanting to write more - doesn't matter if writing is intended for professional publication, web logs, or personal journals.

01. Writing Brave and Free
* confidence - a writers most valuable tool - it's inside
* tool kit - every writer needs a toolkit - physical (computer or paper) and mental (rules, style, organization)
* imitation - every writer learns and models their work by reading and imitating others
* Carl Sandburg's big three - confidence, joy in writing, and heart
* experience - your own experiences are unique - tell the best story
* sharing - writing shares, extends, and makes permanent your experiences
* do it - the more you write the more fun it becomes - do a little every day - set aside habit forming time and place - do it for you - then do it to be heard

02. What's Standing in Your Way
* fear of failure - reduce your standards - like running - can't do 4 minute mile on day one - therefore, go at leisurely pace
* writers block - typically from fear of failure - lower your standards and move forward
* big picture - break it down into little pieces of writing - they'll add up to big things

03. What Do You Know
* about what - whatever you feel like - total freedom
* no rules - bottom line is there are no writing rules - just remember that someone is going to read what you've written and the point of any "rule" is not to discourage the reader
* knowledge - direct from your life experiences
* not just memories - what you feel, see, hear, touch, taste, smell, emotions, imagine - point is what you know is not just the facts

04. Enchanting Details
* details - readers are looking for the unique experiences - why is good good
* nothing is ordinary if the details are given
* more details - sensations, feelings, ideas - example given - hotdogs versus wrinkled hotdogs - pay attention to the smallest of things
* writing lets the details come out - go with the flow

05. No Shoulds, No Should Nots
* rhythm - writing should sound rhythmic - flow - even if that means not grammatically correct
* write clearly - the purpose of rules is to make the writing transparent to the reader - so they can enjoy the story being told and not the mannerisms
* paradox - writing rules have many paradoxes - not always right or wrong
* rules are really just tools
* journal - use journals to draft or sketch out ideas
* organization - logical flow helps the reader
* outline - helps to think logically - outlining others works allows you to see their flow and provides learning experience - puts you in writer's shoes
* do it more - more you write, more you read with writing in mind and learn the tools others use

06. Input and Output
* input - what you write about
* output - what you write about it
* five senses - see, hear, taste, smell, touch
* three elements of input - clear sensation (focused), feelings toward the clear sensation, thoughts about the feelings - sense, feel, think are writing's inputs
* transformation - writing transforms inputs to output
* output - good: information (facts), better: knowledge (organizing summaries), best: wisdom (assessment based on experience) - information, knowledge, wisdom are writing's outputs

07. Ten Minute Exercise
* writers practice filling up notebooks with scribbles
* writing is less to do with talent than consistent practice
* write for at least ten minutes daily
* making marks is best way to confront blank page - don't worry about it being good - marking will get you going - no complete sentences, no worry grammar or spelling
* stopping - stop at a place where you still have something to write so you can start off again tomorrow
* ten minute sessions are for you only - point of the exercise is to develop the habit
* habits - working with words, feeling the rhythm, going deep into the details of a subject, think about the direction

08. Overcoming Obstacles to Extended Writing
* time - do it every day and make it a habit
* motivation - find a reward for achieving a doable goal
* discipline - make it a pleasurable habit
* perfectionism - lower your standards - allow drafts
* money - turn other free time to writing time
* style - (pertains to getting published) - find publisher that fits yours
* fear of failure - chance to learn - keep trying and get better
* I'm overwhelmed - focus on the parts of writing that's enjoyable
* fatiguing - work with love for what you're doing
* procrastination - deciding to procrastinate is deciding not to write - don't
* not in mood - find your spirit
* impatient - remember - it's one word at a time
* perfection - don't appraise yourself
* humiliation - this comes from lack of self-respect - get over it - no worries
* single draft - not realistic - go through many drafts
* fear - overcome through experience - do it again and again

09. Developing the Habit of Writing
* habits - routines carried over from one day to the next
* write every day - eventually it will become seductive, habit-forming
* right time - find a flexible time slot
* right place - whatever is right - good lighting, clear space, comfortable
* associate with pleasure - window next to garden, coffee house, quiet music, grain of an oak desk, texture/color of paper, fine pen
* availability - readily accessible when time is right

10. Don't Forget to Read
* writers learn to write by imitation
* more reading = more writing ingredients for your style, your toolbox

11. The Writer's Tools
* deep reflection - write in longhand - pen/paper - it's a physical activity
* getting things out - use a computer - type as fast as think - don't edit - revise later
* computer revision - don't cut and paste

12. Your Clean, Well Lighted Writing Place
* writing is more than thinking - it's also physical and emotional
* place needs to be where you want to be as well as private and comfortable - no interruptions
* no inhibitors to imagination - stimulates creativity - relaxing

13. Relax! The World is Resting on Your Shoulders
* learn to relax
* shoulder exercises for relaxation
* long walks to get recharged

14. What Reader Do You Have in Mind?
* have a reader in mind
* find common ground with your reader
* what do you know that a stranger will find compelling

15. Writing for Friends and Relations
* tell the truth
* when stuck - (1) keep writing (2) write around it (3) research

16. Writing for Strangers
* welcome your listener - warmth and generosity by being conversational, direct, factual
* then move from comfy to the fantastic
* can be cliche openings - they're boring but comfy
* open about the weather - is it hot/cold enough for you
* open with things the reader knows - snow falling on my cheeks - people understand that it's cold
* don't forget - show don't tell - instead of saying it's cold - talk about the snow prickling my face like tiny cubes of ice - reader gets the it's cold message
* a word the reader doesn't understand is not worth using in the lead

17. Taking Control
* every reader is going to be swayed by previous experiences - their viewpoint different
* increasing or decreasing the difficulty of reading - more difficult is slow reading - easier is fast reading - so if describing a scene the difficulty goes up - to describe the action the difficulty goes down (maybe even to single words such as swing, punch, jab)
* writing is to some degree about persuading the reader
* clear and vigorous

18. About Your Imaginary Reader
* meet your reader halfway by suiting your style to your readership - style in regards to topic, content, subject, attitude
* imagining reader leads to where to get published
* think about the imaginary reader when editing

19. The Country of Memory
* multilayered - memory is Shrek - layered like an onion - deeper you go the richer the details
* stop to think about it
* triggers release the inner layers
* the detail makes your writing vivid
* most evocative - least expected
* think about people
* then add the places
* finally the things

20. Writing about One Thing
* strangers will expect your writing to be about one main thing
* power of drafts - writing brings people, places, things to mind which get articulated - eventually each draft starts to focus and distill an answer as to the one thing

21. Getting Organized
* intro, couple examples, conclusion start the critical thinking
* an outline forces comprehensive
* benefit is to start the process of writing - outline doesn't need to be complete
* freewriting thoughts, ideas, in grouped scribble for ten minutes can help
* oral dictation

22. Sensory Detail
* vivid writing - vision, hearing, touch, taste, smell
* synesthesia - stimulation of one sense evoke perception in another - example - the sound of water is shimmering - whereby sound is described by vision
* don't tell the reader if a person is happy or sad - explain it through senses

23. Suspense
* want reader to keep asking how does the hero's situation get resolved
* it's not what you say, it's the information that you withhold

24. The Size and Scope of Things
* to figure the middle of your writing, you need to figure out how big
* however - be brief - leave them hungry for more of your writing
* writing poems is good exercise in making brief points
* imagined reader or plan to publish may dictate scope

25. A Sentimental Journey
* the authors don't like sentimental (unless writing a greeting card) - work past that by simply and purely expressing yourself (you don't need to lather it on)

26. Transparency
* reading state - when a reader reaches that dreamlike state beyond the surface of the page - like looking at a picture through a piece of glass
* to stay in reading state the writing must be transparent
* following conventional grammar and spelling keeps the writing transparent
* using wrong version of word ruins transparency - example - I want to there party instead of their party - or over their instead of over there
* non-transparency causes the reader to pop back out of the book
* Strunk and White's Elements of Style is only book on grammar necessary

27. The Unexpected Detail
* unexpected details are items that pop out / contrast
* unexpected details bring the scene to life
* unexpected details are used to authenticate scenes

28. It's a Figure of Speech
* write about why things happened not just facts - or how they seemed to you - then moving up the ladder from information to knowledge to wisdom - from physical sensation to emotional ideas - leaving objects/facts and moving to appearances/interpretation - then comparison writing such as clouds with whales is needed
* metaphor - a way of describing one thing in terms of another
* metaphors add strength to writing
* metaphors are risky if the reader doesn't have the experience or their experience differs - example given is to say xyz roars like a thunderstorm - the writer is thinking power/glory and the reader is thinking scary/terror
* a vivid metaphor outweighs the risks as it is compelling
* metaphors create a bond of associations and help the reader remember your writing
* metaphors can be powerful persuasion
* those in business have to make conscious effort to use metaphors when writing outside business
* don't lay it on too thick - saying coffee is black as oil at the wellhead can be written simply as coffee is black as oil
* metaphors vs. similes - metaphors are forceful whereby similes are like, casual - metaphors say x = y whereby similes x is like y - metaphor has authority

29. Before Us on the Table
* writers try to have an affect upon their readers, but the readers' past experiences can change the affect; therefore...
* limit the variety of association any noun may call up - less clutter, the better
* steer your nouns with adjectives
* adjectives specifying numbers are helpful
* use adjectives to remove associations you don't want the reader to have
* however, too many adjectives make work flabby

30. Be Positive, Emphatic, Clear and Active
* readers are hungry to learn what you know - through an interesting story, open a world rich with information, knowledge, and wisdom
* write positively, with emphasis, and actively
* write positively - any no, not, never change to a positive statement
* write positively - use and instead of or - and is affirmative and or suggests hesitation
* write positively - avoid opening a paragraph with although
* write positively - state what you know or believe first and then acknowledge with others opinions as support material
* with emphasis - strong beginning and ending
* with emphasis - stick to the point - avoid ambiguity - clear / not complex -
* with emphasis - us numbers instead of numerous - about real people, places, things
* write actively - about people doing things
* write actively - active verbs, assign responsibility - for example - he did it instead of it was done

31. Transformative Experience
* transformative experience is transforming your information, knowledge, and wisdom into words which express meaning
* sink into the story telling
* eager to write
* moment of change makes the best stories

32. Revise and Wait
* writing is like shoveling snow during a storm - the details accumulate faster than you can get it done - however, revising is like combing hair and getting out the tangles leaving it smooth
* every piece of writing needs some revising
* first step - set it aside and let it cool - then you can really see it - so many times I'll write, then come back and wonder what I was writing
* look for peculiar syntax, tortured grammar, illogical thinking, misspellings, wordiness
* it can always be improved
* keep writing - shift to another piece and then go back
* learn writing by writing (and revising)

33. Getting Advice, Taking Criticism
* write with the door closed, rewrite with the door open - means you write the first draft for yourself and revise to communicate with others
* everyone needs help - look at the acknowledgements of any book
* first reader - tell you where it doesn't make sense - not clear - and what parts do and reach across the writer / reader divide
* don't look for value judgement - ie: is it good
* don't look for scaling - 1-10 - ask about clearness, ask about interest
* encourage your reader to ask the dumb questions - and then thank them
* ask tough questions - what did they like, what did they not like - ask them to be specific
* ask reader to read at their convenience and to write notes
* pointed questions - did your mind drift, what to omit, what else to include
* writing groups - encourage each other, specific constructive criticism, have fun

34-45 - Business of writing
* discusses publishing - writers encourage publishing - start with low expectations - publish everywhere possible
* become an expert
* introduce yourself
* be persistent
* discussion of copyrights, contracts, etc.