8 April 2010
by 
Is the true art in online writing in the heart or in writing technique?
In the last two decades, media has grown, transformed, and been reborn. Journalism emerged, centuries before the Web, as a career built on a solid foundation of higher learning. Students trained in the craft, the technique, the rules of writing for the early paper and newsprint medium. The news was about informing the people and over time journalism developed a sense of detachment.
Sometimes, newspapers and magazines shared story. Anecdotal tales with emotion and heart were included and these too were written with an integrity to the true craft of writing. Most of the world’s news came in concise, just-the-facts, reverse pyramid journalism format.
That was before the move to online media. Now Joe Blogs journalism has altered the balance of heart and technique in writing. These days, some believe all it takes to engage and inform readers is the ability to string one word to the next. Opening discussion, sharing news, informing readers, and gaining an audience has become open platform with a very low exclusionary threshold. If you have access to a computer and internet connection you can use modern media to communicate, inform, and educate. But does being free to share your own knowledge and experience make you a writer?
Is the title of writer open to anyone with a basic literacy skill?
You don’t need an English degree to build a successful freelance writing career. Heart will take you a long way. But to truly excel as a writer one must close the gap between heart and technique.
An equal balance of technique and heart can make all the difference between good content and great content. A compelling post mixes these two vital elements. A reader can be drawn into the story of your post or article with their heart through yours but keeping your reader on the page requires a well-structured use of language.
Very few stories riddled with spelling errors, grammar faux pas, and incorrectly formatted sentence or paragraph structure become widely popular. But even these complex technical considerations are just brushing the surface when it comes to really knowing how to write.
When was the last time you learned more about the craft, technique, and rules of quality writing? Do you continue to hone your understanding of the technical aspects involved? Where do you go to learn more as your writing continues to grow up?
I presented a piece that I toiled over for hours, only to have the editor tell me that it wasn’t good enough. It was sent back to me with a note to be redone. “Write it again. This time put your heart into it.”
I wish I could show you the ‘before’ because as I slept on it, with my wound freshly pealed back, my heart bleeding, broken, shredded by the editor, something magical prepared me for what was to come the next day.
I woke up fresh, ready to resurrect, pump life, breathe, by spilling my sweat, pouring my blood into that very same piece.
What emerged in the next few hours was a transformation beyond my wildest imaginings. Perhaps my best work ever.
“Living Beyond Expectations” was hard to write because in opening my heart, to let the life into my work, I had to expose myself to the emotions that go with holding my son, while he lived … and while he died.
Is writing about a ‘science of written language’ or is it about the ‘art of the heart’?
The ‘science of written language’ can be taught, we can learn the lessons as we go along.
Can the ‘art of the heart’ be taught to would-be writers?
A well written heart piece can be corrected and fixed by a good editor. But a well written piece with no heart will just be rejected or sent back to its author with a note, “Write it again. This time put your heart into it.”
That editor (who will remain nameless) did me a favour by sending it back for a redo. In doing so I dug deeper than I knew I could.
I want to see into the heart of the writer when I read their stories. Intimacy, in my world stands for ‘In-To-Me-See’. Is there a nicer way so see into another’s soul than through their heart while they write?
Cheers Stephaie
.-= Stephanie shares: How Do You Like Your Eggs? =-.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by RawJuiceGirl. RawJuiceGirl said: Recommended Reading: Heart vs Technique: Closing the Web Writer Gap ( http://tinyurl.com/yca2ov7 ) @laffarsmith #web #writing #freelance [...]
This is a really awesome post, Rebecca!! I love it.
I do try to hone my writing skills. I love Grammar Girl and of course, I learn a lot from WRA writers, too!
I’m always open to learning. And I’m learning from your editing as well!!!
.-= Michele | aka Raw Juice Girl shares: OpenSky Oster Blender Giveaway WINNER!!! =-.