Writing Formula: Learn More, Think More, Write More

MANILA: Yes, you can learn better, think better, write better no matter your age or experience – if you are reading this, you can learn. "Learning more, thinking twice, writing over" are the 3 steps in creative writing, the simplest that I can think of right now.

I happen to be a writer who learned from the teacher that was me. I studied at the University of the Philippines to be a teacher, and I passed the very first Teacher's Exam offered in this country in 1964 with a grade of 80.6% (Good) – I'm very proud of it because Education was just my Major and there were no review classes, reviewers (reading materials), or leakages. I started writing earnestly in 1959, when I was First Year College at UP Los Baños, learning to write on my own by reading widely. In high school yet, I was inspired to write by the Reader's Digest and the fact that I won as Tagalog Editor of our high school newsletter in Rizal Junior College (HS Dept) when in fact my competitors included native Tagalogs and I'm Ilocano!

I just created this blog today, Saturday 16 April 2016, about an hour ago as I begin to write this, because I suddenly had an inspiration about an educational strategy as I was writing about the Pearson's school in Tondo, Manila (I'm almost done but I had to write this first). In that essay, I was at the point where I was going to say that the Pearson's school should be teaching not only critical thinking but also creative thinking, and then it came to this lesson: "Learning more, thinking twice, writing over." You can't find that anyplace else; it just came off my creative mind like that. That's a good formula for learning your subjects in school, and learning to write out of school.

Learning more.

In school, if you are the student, do not depend on teacher assignments alone. Do your own reading, study more on the same subject, and you will learn to enjoy learning more – because there is no teacher or parent pressure. You want to do it, so you will enjoy doing it. If you are the teacher, encourage your students to read other than their textbooks to widen not only their vocabulary but also their minds.

In writing, before you do your first draft, do good research. There is the Internet only a table or street away, so there is no excuse for not doing your homework nowadays. You don't have to type to collect notes; just learn to select text using the mouse. Here's how I do it:

I go to the last word in the article. There, I press the left button of the mouse and don't release as I slowly go up the screen until the very first word of the article (in the title) is highlighted. Then I press the right button and select Copy; I go to an empty window of Word 2013 and paste the text there. I go back to the webpage and select the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) at the top of the webpage, go back to my Word 2013 file, paste the URL under the title of that article, and I'm done. I repeat for every web address that Google Search gives me. I do a lot of searches like that, so I never run out of things to say or ideas to borrow, or insights to share.

When you read your collected notes, many ideas will come to your head. That's precisely why you have to do the research in the first place. Now read. Now you're ready to jot down your own thoughts about the subject – freely interpreting your collected webpages. If in doubt, ask somebody. You don't have to show your notes to people. You'll enjoy doing this! I always do.

Thinking twice.

In school, if you have homework, don't be satisfied with only one reference. Get a hold of as many references as you can because each one will give a different way of thinking about your subject matter. You will learn from them and expand your mind. You should also be taught how to do creative thinking by your teacher, not only in the arts but also in the sciences, in high school and in college. If your school doesn't teach creative thinking, ask around, read books and teach yourself: you will be glad you did!

In writing, you are involved in 2 different ways of thinking: critical thinking and creative thinking. When you discuss, debate or defend, you're mostly using your critical thinking power. When you expound, explain or explore, you're mostly using your creative thinking power. Some people like to think they have a left brain and a right brain – the left for logic or critical thinking, and the right for intuitive or creative thinking. I do not agree with such psychological explanation. The brain is the brain; it works as one, not independently the left and the right. It's not like your left hand and right hand that can do things independent of each other.

Writing over

The lesson here is the same whether it concerns school or writing: you have to have a first draft, and then you have to rewrite.

Draft:

Don't aim at a complete draft the first time, otherwise you're over-exerting yourself. I am happy writing a chaotic draft, a half-draft, an unfinished draft all the time, and then quitting to relax the mind. Don't stress yourself finishing the first time. I still don't, and I am, in case you didn't know, the unchallenged "world's most highly original, creative writer online" (see my blog, A Magazine Called Love. blogspot.com) if you want to verify. That claim has been there for several years already. I have right now as I write this 2,251 posts averaging at least 1,000 words each. If you aim for perfection first time all the time, you have a problem with reality. Aiming for perfection the very first time is unrealistic; you will be disappointed.

Rewrite:

If it's for school, rewrite at least 2 times. If for a speech, lecture, preaching, presentation, essay or column, by all means rewrite at least 4 times. Remember: Rewrite at different times, not right after having rewritten what you have written. Leave it alone for a while. Let your mind relax for at least 3 hours so that when you get back to it, your thinking is fresh, and you will find places where the writing can be improved.

One of the things I do to relax my mind and get off the pressure of rewriting is to surf and read the articles that attract me in Fast Company, The New Yorker, and WIRED Magazine; sometimes, The Atlantic and The New York Times.

I always rewrite about 7 times, no arguments. I always find something to delete, add or improve.

Finalize:

For both school and professional writing, finalize your draft after several hours, preferably early the next morning. When I finalize, I always look over my notes again to see what I can add, revise or remove.

I repeat: "Learning more, thinking twice, writing over." This 6-word lesson is good for students in any school and for would-be writers at any age in any media. If you didn't know, I'm now 75 going on 76, and I'm enjoying every bit of it, and I thank God. If you don't love what you're doing, this is the first thing to learn to do: Love it.

If you need mentoring, email me: frankahilario@gmail.com.