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From Thoughts To Words

Discussion in 'Snippets of Life (Non-Fiction)' started by Viswamitra, Sep 23, 2018.

  1. Viswamitra

    Viswamitra IL Hall of Fame

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    When we walk the dog or when we are in the middle of cooking delicious food or when we are having a nice evening drive with the family or when we are about to wake up or go to bed, we come up with bright thought that we feel like sharing with others but soon after that this thought disappears into thin air as we get engaged in mundane day to day activities. If any of you have this problem, you are not alone. Converting thoughts into words required adroit action to make a note of that thought to develop them into a serious of analytical sub-thoughts. Always carry a note book or diary or gift yourself with Samsung Note 9 and download S Note app to write down your thought. I have Samsung Note 4 and I write directly into the phone whenever I feel like writing down my thought.

    It is not like assembling a product we buy from Amazon by following the instruction manual. Developing a thought into a detailed write up needs structural thinking, focus to not drift away from the main topic, commitment to find time to write, strategy to develop thoughts into sub-thoughts, language skill, writing and communication skills, wordsmith's ability to right phrase or rephrase the sentences.

    Let us first look at some fundamental considerations before we get into substance of art of writing. First, assess the audience and the relevant forum to write the subject of our choice. Second, if we have the habit of writing in multiple forums and handles, it is better to make sure the subject was relevant for the forum or handle and not already written by us earlier. Third, if possible, create a brand of what topic we are comfortable writing about to be well received by the audience. Fourth, review the nature of write up whether it contains practice real life experiences or some life lessons learned or something researched specifically for the write up. To the extent possible, the humorous write ups get the best attention.

    Structural thinking is a process of putting a framework to an unstructured idea or thought. Having a structure to develop that thought not only help understand the thought at a macro level but also helps identifying areas which require deeper understanding. Example is a carpenter who first creates all sides of everything he/she was trying to build and then perfect the sides to aesthetic level until he/she reaches the maximum level of satisfaction. When deciding to write, it is imperative to focus not to drift away from the main subject to make the write up coherent and easy for the readers to follow.

    One needs to have a flare to write to find time to put thoughts into words. For an abstraction to become a fully-developed write up, a commitment is essential. Developing a thought into sub-thoughts that are related requires a skill of a knitter. A knitter can visualize the product even when he/she begins to knit something. By language skill, I don’t necessarily mean just the strength of vocabulary (even though it is a great strength) but a command over the language to express thoughts clearly and concisely without any ambiguity. The writing and communication skills are both art and science. It should be elaborate enough to cover the depth but also simple enough to assimilate and digest. Lastly, the ability to right phrase and rephrase the sentences comes naturally to a wordsmith. Some of them have the natural tendency to keep editing until they have a total sense of fulfillment. Professors, Linguist, Lawyers and some writers have this great skill while others like me just let the content slip out of hands before perfecting it.

    Writing means thinking and thinking requires serious commitment. Writing is also communication and communicating with clarity is a difficult science to learn but not a rocket science. Writing enhances creativity but unfortunately the ideas that facilitate such serious writing appear like a flash and disappear in a trice. Now, wordsmithing, spell check and grammar check are all facilitated through technology simplifying the human effort. However, the conversion of thoughts into words requires someone not only to have creative juice but a serious structural thinking, art of developing that into sub-thoughts and commitment to write. Please share your experiences of writing for everyone’s benefit.
     
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  2. HariLakhera

    HariLakhera Platinum IL'ite

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    Very educative post for writers and bloggers.
     
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  3. jayasala42

    jayasala42 IL Hall of Fame

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    Great ideas from Viswa as ever.Very valuable information regarding clustering ideas, sorting, editing and noting down.But difficult to implement,though not impossible.it is an open secret that many writings are just for the pleasure of writers and very rarely , the substance reaches the intended audience, even if we choose the correct forum.The readers will be hardly 1-2% of the members.
    Pressing 'likes'-is more or less a formality and depends on the popularity of the writer.Most of the likes are known to be an action of 'press button' and has nothing to do with reading,understanding and not to talk of assimilation.Reminded of a joke in schools of those days'.
    The teacher used to ask" Did everything enter?' to mean'everything
    Did everything enter your brain.The student who was watching a rat playing on the thatched roof ,involuntarily replied'Everything entered, only the tail remains'.
    The writer can do so many things to assemble his thoughts, arrange, rearrange,edit and present to the relevant forum.But this never guarantees the fulfillent of purpose of reaching the readers.
    Had it been so, with all the quotes,sayings etc spread daily through whatsapp daily, the world would have changed towards betterment.The contrary seems to be the actual happening.
    jayasala42
     
  4. Cheeniya

    Cheeniya Super Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    Extremely useful. A boon for budding as well as seasoned writers. Great work Viswa.
     
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  5. Viswamitra

    Viswamitra IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Hariji,

    Thank you for your first response and the complement.

    Viswa
     
  6. Viswamitra

    Viswamitra IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Smt. Jayasala:

    Thank you for your response. You are always very practical in your thinking that makes you very special. I agree most write for their own pleasure, readers sometimes press like button arbitrarily and value the writers based on popularity and so on. But even popularity is not given but earned due to consistent writing that the readers are able to relate. It is true that not many may read every single snippet here. However, when someone cares to respond with diligence, reading and responding to such posts, it is elevating to the writer.

    Many writers, past and present, have created lasting impression in me and were/continue to be great role models for me. The list is endless. Depending on the mindset of both writers and readers, the effort varies.

    A simple "Madisar Saree and Penguin Walk", a humorous write up created a powerful impact in me. "Aunt Gnani", another humorous write up demonstrated how well a simple topic could be written. Who can forget Gauri's post about weight reduction effort and how she got motivated to do that? Every post of Kamala in Time Management and Space is a treat to read. Ansuya used to create a powerful impression in my mind every time she wrote something even as a response. Cheeniya Sir, you, Sokanasanah, Sabitha, Iravati and endless number of other writers (either through their responses or original posts) add so much value to this forum. Who can forget Soka's contribution about primary education system?

    A young woman proved that powerful communication doesn't require a lot of words through her impressive doodles. Enormously talented poets write very impressive poems and communicate powerful messages through those poems. These are merely examples and definitely not a complete list of people I admire.

    Lastly, you have a great experience not only writing here but also in the newspapers. My intention of writing the above snippet is to let others share their writing experiences that could be useful to others who are aspiring to write but didn't make that last push to write. The objective is to increase the number of writers in IL.

    Note: There is a also a vested interested in writing this snippet. Arguably, one of the most famous members here has been dodging writing a snippet for a while and I told her "You would be punished with my snippet "how to convert thoughts into words"? Another one of my favorite members said she was busy doing so many things at home and forgot what to write eventually. Hence, there is a suggestion to have a note to write down her thoughts.

    Viswa
     
    Last edited: Sep 23, 2018
    sindmani, Laks09, yellowmango and 3 others like this.
  7. Viswamitra

    Viswamitra IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Cheeniya Sir,

    Thank you very much Sir. What can I say? Frankly, you are a great role model for me to write here and I am very humbled by your words of appreciation. Kindly write a ramble about your writing experience, when you get a chance for this fan of yours.

    Viswa
     
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  8. GeetaKashyap

    GeetaKashyap IL Hall of Fame

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    @Viswamitra Sir,

    You have covered almost all the aspects of 'writing' very well. I have just 4 years of writing experience and I very much follow the same procedure. I love the moments when the thoughts with a good potential strike:banana:, following this the sleep evades me as the brain starts ticking and all the subsequent routines go haywire!:sleep: Editing is the toughest job according to me as that requires reorganizing the matter and filling in the gaps! In my experience, I am never satisfied with what I write; I always find plenty of scope to improve and edit further. I still have a long way to go.:thinking:

    Some articles require a lot of reserach too. Reading others works helps us to refine our skills and learn about the possible pitfalls too.
     
  9. Viswamitra

    Viswamitra IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Smt. GeetaKashyap:

    Thank you for your wonderful response sharing your writing experience. I am not too far behind in writing. I started writing in 2012. You are absolutely right. When a good thought strikes, the excitement is immense and often kills the sleep. I couldn't agree more with you on editing and being satisfied with what I write. That feeling lingers always. After I post, I always feel I could have spent more time and would have written it better.

    Regarding research, some of what I wrote here took nearly 10-15 days of patient research (especially the one about crooked vegetables). There is no doubt that we learn so much from the work of other writers.

    Viswa
     
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  10. kkrish

    kkrish IL Hall of Fame

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    @Viswamitra

    This is for your article.:thumbup:
    My like for your first post was definitely for the content. I promise I read every word :)

    My like for your second post was most definitely for the compliment you paid me.:facepalm: (ahem ... I am very modest you know :D)
    Thank you very much.

    Now that you have raised the bar, I need to be extremely careful on the "how", "what", "when", "where", and "why" when I write.
    *************
    True.
    In my experience this is the most difficult, to convey to the reader that the intention is humor.

    This is another key to good writing.
    The litmus test for easy reading is the average eighth grader should understand what is written.
    Using too many bombastic words is "no,no". Here or there a terminology will pique the reader's interest to find the meaning, but using more than two or three turns the reader away from the article as, "too difficult to understand".

    A deep understanding is key to simplified writing of a serious or difficult subject. Reading a wide range of books and articles on a difficult subject, will help clarify many doubts in the writer's mind and then it can be written in a simple way.

    Yes Communication is the key.

    This covers three main aspects - Catching the readers attention, keeping the reader with you throughout the article, and an ending that the reader leaves with a final thought, a good hearty laugh, or wanting for more, guarantees the writer's success.

    Sometimes, a few words can convey more than a long winding paragraph.
    For example, these words were the beginning of a book I read many years ago. I have forgotten the name of the book but not this sentence.
    "The city looked dead but was asleep. Tom looked asleep, but was dead!"
    I still marvel at this very crisp and short sentence that painted the entire scene so well.

    Organizing the thoughts that were initially captured at random, is another key for good communication.
    ************
    The one problem I face is lack of time.
    A full time job, a full time home maker, a robust social life, multiple interests ... fitting all within 16 hours a day is a challenge.
    ************
    I am not returning, but paying an honest compliment @Viswamitra
    You write on the difficult subject, spirituality, very well.

    Similarly I enjoy @Cheeniya sir's, Meenasankaran, Satchitananda, for their humorous writing, SRama for reminding us that there so much joy around us, Smt. Jayasala ma'am for her nostalgic memories that make me want to move back in time, Iyerviji for her "from the heart" posts, all the fiction writers in this forum... and wonderful writers, Gauri03, GeetaKashyap, Thyagarajan sir, and so many others...
     
    Last edited: Sep 23, 2018

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