Tuesday, June 4, 2013

The Best Way to Learn

In school (during the many years I attended), I usually sat in front of an expert and listened, then went home and read from a textbook, and I was expected to learn.  I guess I did learn that way.  For a long time, I knew how to calculate the load of a building in its foundation.  Unfortunately, that's gone.  Everything fades without practice.

When I started writing, I had to find a different way to learn.  Granted, I spent plenty of time listening to experts lecture, and reading "how to" books on writing, and I learned a lot.  But there's sometime more personal about writing.  You have to tap into some kind of species-level knowledge hidden in your bones.  That doesn't come from the usual classroom setup.

I quickly realized a lot of it comes from reading the work of other writers.  We all understand how important it is to read if you want to write.  But when I'm reading a good book, I quickly slip out of writer mode and into reader mode to enjoy the experience.  And if I'm reading a book that isn't so good, I stop.  There are too many good books waiting out there.

Judging writing contests has taught me at least as much as any class.  When you read something really good, you know it.  You feel it in your chest.  The trick is to figure out why it's good. 

Reading the first ten pages of someone's unpublished manuscript gives me the opportunity to question what works and what doesn't.  Then I work to share that information with the writer in a constructive manner.  I've come to realize that I internalize my own comments.  The next time I'm writing, I think back to what worked and try to figure out how to do that in my own voice and story.  And I try to avoid what didn't work.

The other tool I've used to open up the world of writing is teaching classes.  If you're the one standing in front of the group of eager writers, trying to impart useful information, you are forced to research and truly understand.  I love that!  I've learned so much that way, and I have to retain more of it in order to share it with others.

Maybe it's true of many things in life; helping others is the best way to help yourself.  I hope so.  For writing, I believe it's definitely true.

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On another note, though related since I'm teaching others to create book covers next week, I've been trying to figure out why I wasn't happy with my self-published book cover. Then I found a wonderful quote.  (These are not my words, but I can't remember the source.) "A good book cover makes a promise the book delivers."  Yes!  That doesn't mean I can create amazing covers yet, but I understand what I need to shoot for. 

Here's where I am so far.  What do you think?  Not very flashy, but then neither is the story.

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