Introduction

Write!

The very word makes some people break out into a cold sweat. It emits thoughts of tests, essays, term papers--in all of which you are judged not only on what you wrote, but on how you wrote it: the grammar, the spelling, and so forth. And many people cringe just thinking about any one of these.

Yes, all of these things are involved in writing. But put them out of your mind right now. Let's look at writing as a way to exchange ideas.

It's kind of like this:

• I have something that I want you to understand, and I'm not there to tell you about it, and describe it by moving my hands just so, and making the proper facial expressions in the right places . . . . So, how can I help you to understand what it is that I think it's important that you know?

• I write it out in such a way that you can understand exactly what I mean. You read it and then you know what I wanted to explain to you. If I've written it well, you'll have no trouble understanding it, and we'll both share an experience that otherwise might have been impossible.

What Is Writing?

There is more to writing than merely placing words on paper or letters on a computer screen. There are several things that are absolutely important about writing--even before you put pencil to paper, or spread your fingers over the keyboard:

The most important principle of writing is that you have something that is worth saying. If it isn't going to do anyone any good to read it, it's a waste of time to write it. And a further waste of time on the reader's part, because he thought there was something important . . . and there wasn't.

So, before you write, ask yourself: Is what I'm about to write really important? Is it something that I really want to, or need to say? Will the reader find it interesting and/or helpful? If your answer is "yes," then you should do the best you can to write it in a way so that when the reader has finished scanning down the page, he will have no question as to what you are trying to say.

A second principle of writing is that the important things you have to say should be written in an interesting way.

Why does it have to be interesting? So your friend wants to read it all the way through, and not just give up and toss it into the trash.

A third principle of writing is that you present all the facts your friend needs to have in order to fully understand your idea.

Why? Well, if you just tell your friend that your model rocket exploded on take-off, he's going to have a lot of questions. Why? How? When (how far into lift-off)? What happened. And he may have other questions as well. So you have to make sure that you include all the facts about your idea or information.

So, before you write you should make a list, just to be sure you don't leave anything important out.

A fourth principle of writing is that you need to present the facts in an orderly way so your friend won't get confused. It won't do any good to tell your friend that the house burned down because the curtains caught fire from the candles . . . unless you tell him first of all why there were candles by the curtains in the first place.

So before you write, you might want to jot numbers down in front of the items in your list of facts so you can write you piece in a way that the reader will be able to follow you from point A to point Z without getting lost somewhere around point W.


What to Expect from This Book

• This book won't make you an accomplished writer; the only way that can happen is for you to do a lot of writing. Hopefully, this book will get you started writing so that eventually you'll become an accomplished writer.

• This book isn't fool-proof; no one can make it so you'll write a winner every time. Every author writes a dud from time to time. In fact most of us write more duds than good stuff. So if you fail, try to find out why. Then get out your pad and pencil, or sit down at your word processor and start writing again. Try to keep from making the same mistakes next time, and you may find that you have a winner.

• This book isn't an exhaustive writing course; it's merely a few suggestions of an old writer written with the hope that it will help you get started. This book is merely a launching pad to jump-start you into using writing as an effective way to pass your ideas on to other people.

If you like the effect that your writing has on your readers; if what I've written here can help you to enjoy writing as much as I do . . . then it was all worth it.

If not: just trash it and go on your way. Nothing has been lost. And since I wasn't there when you trashed it, my feelings won't be hurt.

Hey, that's another good reason for passing information on by writing it out: you won't get your feelings hurt if the other guy doesn't seem to like what you said . . . because you won't be there when he . . . . Well, let's not think about that just now!

Thurman C. Petty, Jr.

Chapter 1