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A Secret Tip for Good Writing

By Kyle Cushman, Vermont College of Union Institute and University

Shhh…this is the lesson that many writers struggle to learn, the lesson that teachers never share (probably because they never learned it), and if anyone asks, I will deny that I told you any of this. Lean in close…

My secret tip for good writing:
Take more time to play and goof off!

WHAT??!
Yup…that’s what I said.

But…I thought good writing requires discipline (Yes!) and practice (Yes!). I thought good writing requires learning the rules of grammar (it does) and to know about things like a thesis, and introduction, a conclusion, paragraph structure, and outlines and… (you bet). So what are you talking about?

If you look closely at the heart of the writing process, you will find that it’s an act of creativity. In her book Understanding Creativity, Jane Piirto says that,“The Dictionary of Developmental and Educational Psychology defines creativity as ‘man’s capacity to produce new ideas, insights, inventions or artistic objects, which are accepted of being social, spiritual, aesthetic, scientific, or technological value’” (Piirto 6). Isn’t that what you’re doing when writing, producing new ideas and insights that are of value to society?

But I’m just writing a paper for my nutrition class so the professor knows I went to class and read the book. It’s not like I’m a poet or anything…I’m not that into it.

I would argue, then, that if you are just proving you did the work in class, then you aren’t really writing. Your writing is most likely to be “ho humm…yawn…” Sorry, where was I?

You were calling my writing boring, I think.

Boring’s not exactly the right way to describe what I mean; it’s more like the writing’s not alive, vibrant, or compelling. Think for a minute…what do we read for?

Because we have an assignment?

Wrong answer…thank you for playing…try again.

I don’t know…I guess to learn something, to find out something new or interesting about our world?

Exactly!

So what does this have to do with playing and goofing off? Students slack all the time and that’s how they get in trouble. You should be advising me not to play.

Okay—here’s the main point:
Creativity requires a spirit of play. Kids are playful and creative, and they are always making up new things—new games, new stories, new inventions. Remember your first cooking concoction that had mud, ketchup, pickles, and pretzels in it? You probably had a great time stirring it around and patting it with your spoon. You were just having fun. That is what play is about, and what creativity, in it’s ideal state, is about. You don’t care if you “accomplish” something (which is good because we might have had a hard time eating your dish).

To be truly creative, to happen upon inspiration that leads you to new ideas and valuable insights, you need to be playful and not attached to the outcome. When we are worried about whether we will achieve a good paper, we almost always don’t. It’s when we are just messing around with our ideas on the page that we can have that “aha!” moment. The spirit of playfulness allows us to stumble upon unexpected truths.

Oh…I never thought about it that way. I’m always just focused on getting the paper done by my deadline and getting a good grade. It’s so stressful…I’m usually exhausted after.

If you are in a playful state of flow when writing, you’ll most likely feel energized and excited. All sense of time disappears. It’s like you’re in a dream state. And there is another aspect to play that is connected with writing.

What’s that?

People who make time for play on a daily basis are often in a better mental state to be creative because stress, clutter, and responsibility fade away, opening up space in the mind to make surprising new connections.

Hey, this is all pretty cool. I was always told not to play around and goof off, that I needed to get to work in order to get anything done.

That’s a deceptive message. There’s no avoiding the fact that at some point, you do have to make the commitment to sit down and put pen to page. You do have to write regularly and keep up with your studies. However, modern society is very product-driven, both in the work world and in school. The result is that many people are overworked, overstressed, and completely depleted creatively.

Which can lead to a lot of ho hum writing.

You’ve got it! Hey, the sun is out. Let’s go toss the Frisbee around on the lawn and unlock the creative self within!

References

Piirto, Jane. Understanding Creativity. Scottsdale, AZ: Great Potential Press, 2004.

Questions or comments? Contact the author at kyle.cushman@tui.edu.

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