If you're thinking of me

A journalism maestro, Roy Peter Clark, once compiled 14 eccentric traits shared by writers. I remember laughing like crazy when one of my lecturers discussed these traits in class back in uni.

However, after I actually become a writer, I don't find these traits funny at all. I find it sad that I can totally understand where these writers (and their eccentricism) come from. Some interesting traits:

Trait 1
Good writers see the world as their journalism laboratory, a storehouse of story ideas. If they can get out of the office, they can find a story. In fact, they can't walk down the street or drive to the mall to watch television without finding something to write about.

Trait 7
Good writers understand that an important part of writing is the mechanical drudgery of organising the material, what the AP's Saul Pett describes as "donkey work". They may respond to this be developing careful filing systems. They also develop idiosyncracies that help them build momentum during the writing process: pilgrimages to the bathroom, taking walks, daydreaming, junk food orgies or self-flagellation.

(Ed: YES!! OLD CHANG KEE!!!!)

Trait 8
Good writers rewrite. They love computer terminals, which permit maximum playfulness during revision. They move paragraphs around, invert word order for emphasis, find stronger verbs and occasionally purge the entire story to make a fresh start. Alas, they are rarely satisfied with their final stories and, burdened with imperfection, can hardly bring themselves to read their own work in the newspaper. Writing is an expression of ego, making the writer vulnerable and, at times, insufferable.

Trait 11
Good writers write primary to please themselves and to meet their own exacting standards, but they also understand that writing is a transaction between writer and reader. Unlike many other journalists, these writers have confidence that sophisticated work will not be lost on their readers. They treasure the reader and want to reward and protect and inform the reader and take responsibility for what the reader learns from a story.

Trait 14
Good writers write too long and they know it. Unlike other journalists, who stop caring for the reader after the lead is complete, these writers use transitions and endings to keep their readers going. Their endings are so good that it is almost impossible to cut stories from the bottom. They want their stories to be seamless or connected by a single thread or to flow. They want readers to read every word.


Uh oh.
Flash meeting at 1500hrs.
It's morphing time.


###