The Writer"s Stretch"n"grow
I used to sew a lot of my children's clothes when they were young.
My husband asked me one day if I could sew him something matching to what I was making for our first boy.
I think he envisioned proudly wearing a shirt in the same fabric and pattern as his boy, so he was very surprised when I asked him if he would like a stretch'n'grow suit! The stretch'n'grow is the name we called those wonderful body suits for babies and young toddlers.
There are different names for them, and the designs differ of course, but the concept is the same.
They cover the baby from neck to feet in lovely, stretchy material that allows the baby to move and grow comfortably until the suit is outgrown.
That children's suit is going to be my analogy for this article.
The budding writer needs ·Room to move ·Room to grow First of all -Room to Move.
By this I mean: The writer needs to be willing to try new forms of writing, new genres, different exercises.
The first writing course I ever did was nearly 20 years ago; called 'The Writing School' (NZ and Australia).
While I didn't get much published, I still speak very positively about the course because it made me try a whole lot of different writing I would never have dreamed of trying otherwise.
Those early efforts still hold me in good stead today.
For example - script writing.
Although I haven't written any more scripts for movies or plays, the lesson helped me think in terms of my character's conversations a great deal more than I would otherwise have done.
So - don't restrict yourself too narrowly.
Give yourself some wriggle-space! Room to grow: In the writers' support I'm part of, we also often try different forms of writing.
Newer writers sometimes find that tough, and some don't want to bother trying anything different than their preferred genre, but my mantra is: 'Give it a go - that's how you grow!" Those who have pushed themselves and given it a go have often said later what a great exercise it was.
While physically growing is obviously a process babies don't consciously think of doing, as an adult you have more ability to consciously aid your own growth as a writer.
There are very few writers, new or not, who would declare themselves to be so good at their skill that there's no room for improvement.
(If they did, I'd wonder what planet they come from!) In fact, the more I write, the more areas I can see in which I could and should improve.
How do you help yourself grow? First - apply some insight, and that will help you find the answers.
·Which areas could benefit from up-skilling?Could you buy or loan a book to help you? Could you do a writing course in that area? Could you go to an appropriate seminar or convention? ·Which areas could benefit from more practise? Set aside some time to do so.
Designate an exercise book for that particular exercise, and try to do work in it regularly.
'Give it a go - that's how you grow!" Go on - I dare you to write more adventurously.
My husband asked me one day if I could sew him something matching to what I was making for our first boy.
I think he envisioned proudly wearing a shirt in the same fabric and pattern as his boy, so he was very surprised when I asked him if he would like a stretch'n'grow suit! The stretch'n'grow is the name we called those wonderful body suits for babies and young toddlers.
There are different names for them, and the designs differ of course, but the concept is the same.
They cover the baby from neck to feet in lovely, stretchy material that allows the baby to move and grow comfortably until the suit is outgrown.
That children's suit is going to be my analogy for this article.
The budding writer needs ·Room to move ·Room to grow First of all -Room to Move.
By this I mean: The writer needs to be willing to try new forms of writing, new genres, different exercises.
The first writing course I ever did was nearly 20 years ago; called 'The Writing School' (NZ and Australia).
While I didn't get much published, I still speak very positively about the course because it made me try a whole lot of different writing I would never have dreamed of trying otherwise.
Those early efforts still hold me in good stead today.
For example - script writing.
Although I haven't written any more scripts for movies or plays, the lesson helped me think in terms of my character's conversations a great deal more than I would otherwise have done.
So - don't restrict yourself too narrowly.
Give yourself some wriggle-space! Room to grow: In the writers' support I'm part of, we also often try different forms of writing.
Newer writers sometimes find that tough, and some don't want to bother trying anything different than their preferred genre, but my mantra is: 'Give it a go - that's how you grow!" Those who have pushed themselves and given it a go have often said later what a great exercise it was.
While physically growing is obviously a process babies don't consciously think of doing, as an adult you have more ability to consciously aid your own growth as a writer.
There are very few writers, new or not, who would declare themselves to be so good at their skill that there's no room for improvement.
(If they did, I'd wonder what planet they come from!) In fact, the more I write, the more areas I can see in which I could and should improve.
How do you help yourself grow? First - apply some insight, and that will help you find the answers.
·Which areas could benefit from up-skilling?Could you buy or loan a book to help you? Could you do a writing course in that area? Could you go to an appropriate seminar or convention? ·Which areas could benefit from more practise? Set aside some time to do so.
Designate an exercise book for that particular exercise, and try to do work in it regularly.
'Give it a go - that's how you grow!" Go on - I dare you to write more adventurously.
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