Comments

yeah I can see you workin it off Tom !! Whewww.. you got 24 posts frenzy today !!

Posted by /pd at February 1, 2005 6:06 PM

Yeah, we're not really taught to write. We taught how to "not be wrong", but we're not encouraged to impart feeling and conviction... we're not taught how to really smack 'em upside the head.

Probably the best "marketing writer" of all time, David Ogilvy, pretty much said the same thing as yourself 40 years ago, in his utterly WONDERFUL book, "Confessions of an Advertising Man".

The only thing I've ever read better than Ogilvy is what's probably the best "motivational business plan" ever written- Churchill's 1940 "We will fight on the beaches" speech to Parliament.

It's an AMAZING document, if you're ever lucky enough to get your eyeballs in front of it =)

Posted by hugh macleod at February 1, 2005 7:16 PM

so right, so write!
Thanks Tom, a much needed reminder for me (& not just to write home) to keep on practising. Progress not Perfection! 'write for the rubbish bin' (or trash can if you're in the US.
write a crappy first draft... at least you're writing.
Oh and for the writers (serious wannabe writers) out there, please please get a copy of 'The War of Art' by Steven Pressfield. Magic

Posted by mike at February 1, 2005 7:45 PM

I will try harder. I've noticed that my comments usually end a blog discussion and that my emails get no response. I believe it to be due to crazy talk combined with poor writing skills (plus I'm not an enginneer so numbers are tough too!!)

Posted by Steve Robert at February 1, 2005 10:13 PM

Perhaps that is why it is so hard to get us engineers to really get into the practice of blogging? Progress not perfection is something I need to remember. It took me 8 minutes to get this short response to look the way I wanted it to!

Posted by Rick at February 1, 2005 11:28 PM

Hugh mentioned Churchill's speech. The full text is here:

http://www.winstonchurchill.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=393

Posted by Stuart Jones at February 2, 2005 2:05 AM

One option is to write a monthly column, either online or in print. This forces you to write almost on a continuous basis, especially if you have more than one. The good news is that by the end of the year you will have written 50-75 pages of solid content in your area of specialty

Posted by RTodd at February 2, 2005 8:46 AM

It has been said that "practice makes perfect." When it comes to writing, practice is key. And while it may not make writing perfect, practice does inch us toward progress. Just like athletes and performing artists who courageously practice in performances in front of scrutinizing audiences, submitting your writing to the public eye provides an arena or stage to gauge the results of your training. I applaud all who summon the courage to take their writing on stage. Phew--five revisions of one post, and it's still not perfect. But it did progress. Now that was a workout to start the day.

Posted by Pam Brill at February 2, 2005 9:23 AM

Lest anyone think differently, it never gets "easy." I still get hypertensive before every speech; and I stiil edit every post--and comment--at this site a half dozen times. The smallest writing-speaking screwup, a comma where I meant to have a semi-colon, sends me into a funk for days. So, per Pam ... PRACTICE!

Posted by tom peters at February 2, 2005 11:31 AM

This is no small thing. If my (and others, like Dan Pink) Big Argument is correct, then our possibillity of adding value will depend more & more on creative activities, even for lawyers & docs. So finding one's "sweet spot" around stuff like Writing & Imaginative in a Compelling Fashion becomes a "survival deal." (Engineering schools are going to have to jump on this Bandwagon, by the way.)

Posted by tom peters at February 2, 2005 11:35 AM

I know you know this Tom, but I wanna see you show it.

Working harder is for the left brain, the old world of work. Relaxing and letting yourself be is for the right brain. Give the taskmaster the day off! Repitition can help but going deep is about allowing yourself to be vulnerable--and you can't work yourself into that, your soul will shut down. You've gotta relax your way--love your way into it. It's not work, baby.

And that's what's so lovely about creativity having it's day. You don't have to do it harder, longer or faster. Just more lovingly. Just better.

Van Gogh often left blank spots on his canvases--and felt he needed more classes the whole time he painted. --While he was producing (in today's terms) a $100 million a day. Doing what he wanted. Now that's in the zone! And there's a whole lot of closeted van Gogh's out there. Waiting not to work harder but to let it flow! Shake your butt! Let it be okay. Make a mistake and leave it--just like Coltrane. Own it. Leave a patch blank. (This is Lovemark's mystery--although talking about it and doing it are two completely different things).

You are it. Can't not be. Are more valuable when you know this/have faith.

Lots of love,

E Scratch P

Posted by Eben at February 2, 2005 5:12 PM

we all knead to practise to right really good. I ugree wit Eban to let creeativity flow and shake you but. butt if you cant get the disiplin to polish the kraft of righting no one will take your jeanious seriusly. And that takes hard wurk!

brand viagra buy Posted by Steve Farber at February 3, 2005 3:33 PM

Investing any time and effort to improve one's knowledge of grammar and writing conventions will create a tremendous competitive advantage. Books written by Bruce Ross-Larson are a great place to start.

John Coltrane and van Gogh spent thousands of hours mastering "the basics" Most business executives haven't spent fifteen minutes since Comp 105 improving their writing skills

Posted by Bill Peper at February 4, 2005 7:07 AM

Good writing stems moslty from good reading + good thinking...and maybe a sprinkling of good conversation. "On Writing" by Stephen King blends these nicely.

Posted by Eric Lapp at February 4, 2005 4:54 PM

I would also suggest books written by William Zinsser. Its a wonderful treatise on succinct and precise writing.

Posted by Vijay at February 16, 2005 4:43 PM