Understanding Article Structure and Improving Writing

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A really big strong pen is mightier than sword

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I’m hitting close to my two year mark on Steemit, and the one thing I haven’t quite talked much about is how the daily task of writing has changed me over this period. I’ve averaged probably between 5-10,000 words typed a week for the last few years, ranging from my personal posts here (mostly about culture and personal interests), my journeys and campaigns with @hitheryon, the incubator’s growth and impact on @sndbox, and a spectrum of articles on @creativecrypto. I’ve likely written more than all my years from K12 to college and grad school combined, except this time it was all willingly, all with a sense of purpose and satisfaction.

During this time I know for a fact, though it is difficult to measure, that my writing in general has improved dramatically. I’m not very good at editing (I have a hard time revisiting the mostly rants and personal droll that I myself write…) but besides that, I know that my writing structure, wordplay, and capacity to write more purposefully and poignantly have all developed over these two years. On the bilingual front, my Korean has also improved with the encouragement to write, read, and comment in Korean, something I did little to none of before joining the KR community.

Now, just like how I keep a weekly blog on my semi-frivolous pursuit of getting good at Fortnite, I want to spend a bit more of a concerted effort to compartmentalize and improve my writing. This includes vocabulary, holistic structure, and developing a meaningful piece of writing. This seems pretty self-explanatory so I’ll just hop into some things I’ve been thinking on in the past week.

Moving Away from “I Think.” Revealing a Story, Not Telling It

Acclaimed writer Malcolm Gladwell said “It isn’t about telling a story, it’s about revealing one. Most people, including myself, don’t have terribly interesting stories to tell or more accurately, we’re not good at telling those stories. The best writers, in my humble opinion, are those that act as photographers and can elegantly frame a given story and present it beautifully to their readership. I’ll be trying to read more advanced and informative articles that deliver a message and story with the elegance of good writing.

More Poignant Terminology, More Adequate Verbs

Words, in particular verbs, are the basic and most important building block for good, effective, and enjoyable writing. Not much else to say here other than the fact that I need to study, get smarter, and use better words.

More/Better Reading

One of the ultimate downsides to being an avid and basically full-time Steemian is that I stray from real books (including digital versions) and magazines. I’m much more used to a blogging format and that has somewhat degraded my attention span for long-form, in-depth content. This needs to change if I’m ever to improve as a writer. The same way artists need to see others’ work as part of their practice, reading should be at least 50% matched with the amount of writing I do.

These are just some quick notes from my musings this week. I’ll be sure to dive deeper into particular themes (like not using cliches like ‘dive deeper’) and my general inspirations/motivations for writing well.

Steem on!