Robin Beck

Concentration, Mindfulness, and the Writing Craft

I am a writer, not by trade, but by nature. Writing is what I do; it is something I have done since I was a young boy. I am still not sure why writers write. ...

... Part of it, in my case, is a need to logically, objectively, and concisely explain things to myself. That is perhaps why I write essays and articles. While I enjoy reading their work, I am neither a poet nor a novelist. My half hearted forays into creative writing have generally been rather pathetic.

Whatever the reason, writers write things; it does not matter if we have an audience. If people read our material, and find it helpful, then that is a beneficial side effect. Now; that said, whether we do it well, with mediocrity, or poorly; is another matter. Back in the day when writing always involved paper, most of what I wrote rightfully would up in the proverbial circular file.

Personally, I have some basic skills that I learned growing up, outside of formal schooling. An Aunt and my Mom both taught English; they were constantly correcting 'us kids' {we kids?}. I learned, via repetitive reminders, the difference between a noun and a verb, an adverb and adjective, etcetera, from them. If anything, the formal schooling that I endured actually encouraged sloppy writing. I think maybe the educational 'powers that be' were worried about discouraging creativity and self expression. Also, I think they were trying to move away from making it too complex and confounding; but moved too far.

There was one exception; a French 101 class that I took at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign circa 1971-72. The Teaching Assistant loved language in general. He thoroughly enjoyed exercises like conjugating verbs; and his joy was contagious. I probably would up learning as much or more about English as I did about French.

That much said, I was very ill a few years ago, and have had to recapture, and learn anew, a lot of basic skills. These included simple tasks; like sitting, walking, and speaking. Some who knew my rather whacky on line persona, back then, may recall that I had trouble writing anything that was even remotely comprehensible. However, that did not stop me. I still wrote things; writers write.

Chanting [the central Nichiren Buddhist Practice] to become more mindful was and is extremely helpful in the slow process of recovery and new growth. I still have no idea why it works, but chanting the Daimoku Mantra {Namu Myoho Renge Kyo}, with stillness of mind and concentration, elicits insight; or clear, luminous vision. I do have some idea how it works. The question is when it works. It works better if I do it. I should add, as a disclaimer, that improved concentration and mindfulness are not the only aims or benefits of the practice.

On the topic of improving my writing skills, there are some web-sites that I find useful. If I would have had this kind of rapid access to information thirty-five years ago, college would have been so much easier. Something that helps is to look up words and read the etymology. This is so much faster on line, in contrast with leafing through those old, thick dictionaries with small print. Also, if, while reading, I come across a an unfamiliar word, I simply "google" it.

In the process, I have book marked a few sites that I found helpful.

Online Writing Support

Franklin Self-Grading Quizzes

Tina Blue

The Grumpy Grammarian

One thing, the 'stuff' that I find the most challenging is inevitably the most useful. By challenging, I do not necessarily mean hard. I mean something that hits home. something that needs my attention.

Overall, I think the best approach to essay writing technique is to keep it simple: write complete sentences, punctuate, use adverbs and adjectives sparingly and correctly, keep paragraphs thematic and brief, use capitalization at the beginning of sentences, watch out for homophones, and use a browser that highlights spelling errors.

I also try to keep in mind my own common errors, like hitting the 'i' key instead of 'o.' Spelling Checkers do not always catch those, like fir/for. By the way, I have noticed PhD candidates consistently make certain errors. Some of these are so common in educated circles, that they are becoming accepted usage. Here are the three examples I find the most annoying:

*Peak/pique/peek: When I peeked st his paper; it piqued my interest. My interest really peaked after I had waded the first few paragraphs.

*Then/than: If I use punctuation, capitalization, and paragraph breaks; then my material may not look kewl, but it shall be easier to read. I would generally rather read short, concise sentences and paragraphs' than long ones.

*Definate: Definite is the correct spelling; think: finite, define, definition. Something definite is finite and well defined; not finate or well defaned.

Of course, English is not always consistent, rules are not constant. When something appears clear, it is apparent.,not appearent. When we explain something , it is an explanation; not an explaination. Or when we talk, we speak, but use speech.

Finally, I am not here to harp on minor errors, better writing is just something I am trying to be mindful of. And, yes, I do occasionally start sentences with 'and;' as well as end sentences with prepositions. And both are acceptable, although the latter sometimes is not. 'Something to be mindful of'' is better and less awkward than 'something of which to be mindful.' However, 'prepositions are not words to end sentences with' is better worded differently. And in the phrase 'where is the bus station at; the 'at' is simply redundant, that 'at' happens to be a preposition is incidental.

Posted by rbeck at June 10, 2007 04:32 PM