Writing about Writing

Putting words down on paper seems fairly natural to me. I have written in a journal since I was an adolescent. Of course, back when I started it was called a diary. (I hope some girls still do that.) I had more than one way that I would record my thoughts. I kept track of how often I watered my only inside plant; it was an ivy that I eventually drowned. I kept a log of money that I earned from picking strawberries with every penny spent carefully recorded. And, I also wrote teenage love stories that were totally fictional. (My actual heart's desire was scribbled with charcoal in the middle of a huge heart smack dab on the pink flowered wallpaper of my bedroom. It went something like JK loves BK.) Long before I knew to keep an artist's sketchbook, I was illustrating those stories in my diary.

It is not complicated to want to create yet be grounded in facts. I write best when I can relate to my topic, writing from my own life and experiences. My opinions show but I try not to be offensive. I don't make things up but I do use literary license. I spend a couple of days thinking about what I want to say; the thoughts roll around in my mind for awhile. I look for a different angle. Then, I write. If I start well, I can just pick the words out of my head. My style is to use a lot of "ings" and a combination of long and short sentences. I sprinkle in a few questions and some surprises. It flows.

Then, there is report or technical writing, a whole different animal. Write factually and evenly. No questions. No surprises. No angles. No opinions. Follow the guidelines. Follow the rules. Count your words. Count your pages. Make your copies. Get it in on time. There you go. It is not hard enough to be really fun or to get the right brain rush. But, there is some satisfaction in doing a neat and precise job. And of course, if it is a grant project, the great reward is the money.