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Written by Jeffery Stevenson
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Friday, 17 December 2004 |
Welcome to the new and re-focused column, "The Art of Words." As some people might recall, I used to provide writing tutorials for the Comic Stack website that started to evolve into this column. The site went on indefinite hiatus because the creator and primary workhorse behind the site got busy with drawing comics, so I'd like to take a moment to thank Jon Sukarangsan for founding that site and giving this column its kick start (you can check out his artwork on the Monkey Man webcomic).
What is The Art of Words?
After writing a couple tutorials for Comic Stack, Jon invited me onboard to become a regular monthly columnist on the craft of writing comics. It was a pain trying to work up a direction and title for the column, but one day as I was spinning around in my chair (yes, I like to spin around in my office chair just for fun...wheeeee), I looked at the books I kept in the bookcase closest to my desk. Hagakure, Book of Five Rings, Way of the Peaceful Warrior, Roots of Strategy, and the classic Art of War (among other similar texts). The ways of the warrior throughout history have always intrigued me, so I decided to apply some of their principles and training concepts to the craft of writing. The Art of Words was born.
For the first three articles in this new version of The Art of Words, I'll be republishing the articles from Comic Stack, so I can have them archived somewhere (plus I think there are people that could still get some good information from them). After those, I plan on running with the new direction of the column.
What will people get out of The Art of Words?
Heartache, headaches, calloused fingertips, and possible insanity. Side effects may vary. If you are already mentally unstable, please consult a psychiatrist before reading this column. You didn't expect this to be easy, did you? Just read some columns, glance through some books, tap some words into a computer and voila...instant successful writer? It's never that easy. Some people might make it look easy, but they've put in their time training and developing discipline and working their way up to that level. Sure, natural talent will give someone an obvious edge, but how far will talent take you if you spend all your time at the arcade trying to hold up your baggy pants while playing games or at the trashy nightclub trying to pick up dates with that worn out, "Hey darlin', I'm a writer." line? What good is talent if you're too afraid to let anyone see your work? Where will talent take you if you half-ass everything?
When people take up martial arts (and stick with it), they develop confidence, flexibility, discipline, and healthier bodies. That's the goal of this column...a virtual writing dojo with training, practice, and philosophy to help you build confidence in your writing, flexibility in dealing with your editors and teammates, discipline to get the stories finished, and some wordy nutrition for healthier stories.
Who the hell's writing this column and what makes him so damn qualified?
I'm the kid in high school that didn't study and made straight As. I'm the jerk that also ruined the grading curve on tests. The kid that wrote stories and sketched in his notebook all during class and could still answer the teacher's questions. I'm the bastard that turned a 3-page minimum writing assignment into an 11-page retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk in the style of Edgar Allan Poe. I'm the kid that showed up at track practice one day and stole someone's position on the relay team. Showed up to journalism class with a camera and a good eye for composition and quickly became the head photographer of the school yearbook and newspaper. The kid that sat in the back of the computer class writing video games while others were learning how to assign variables.
I'm also the kid that didn't go to college until years after high school. The kid that filled notebook after notebook with (mostly unfinished) writing and sketches and didn't do anything with them. The kid that never spent enough time training to really take his skills to the next level in sports. Never learned any more about photography than what was needed to get the job done. Never finished developing any of the games that were started back in school.
I was a talented, creative kid that was inflexible, undisciplined, and had oodles of low self-esteem. Then I joined the military, and I discovered that there's no limit to what you can do if you just apply yourself. Sure, I learned my lessons the hard way, but that doesn't mean you have to.
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Now before we move on to the fun articles in this column, I want you to consider these three "guidelines" for getting the most out of these articles:
- Anything's possible. That's right...anything. In my youth, I never would have imagined being able to do push-ups for fifteen minutes straight. That was the only thing holding me back...at one point in the military, I would regularly get dropped to do push-ups for that long (or longer). I never visualized myself doing that in my youth because I thought it was "impossible." If you don't think you can do it...chances are, you can't. Sometimes fools succeed where intelligent men stumble because they don't know enough to handicap their potential.
- Mastery is a road that never ends. Do athletes stop training once they qualify for the Olympics? Mastery isn't a goal...it's a way of life. You continually study and practice and give your best, and that's what keeps you on the path of mastery. Some people might be considered masters of their craft by their peers, but if they settle for those accolades and quit trying, their skills will atrophy. Don't let up. Keep learning. Keep giving your best effort. And keep practicing. But remember to...
- Practice perfectly. If you study and train the wrong way for months on end, you'll be really, really good at doing that one thing the wrong way, and it will take a long time to break that training. You'll invest a lot of time into all that training, so you might as well make sure you get some benefit out of it. Take your time and learn to do things correctly...and then make sure you practice it that way each time.
And that's it for this week. Welcome to the battlefield fellow warriors of the word.
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