“Your lead should give readers something to care about before it gives them dry background information”
These days, everyone can write, especially in the age of AI. It becomes increasingly easier for people to craft something that could generate viewership which eventually leads to some type of monetary value. This is why, while I was reading this book 100 ways to improve ‘your’ writing by Gary Provost, that was intended for freelancers, especially freelance writers and the likes, I was wondering of its relevance. I had a few questions in mind especially when it comes to the implication of AI that becomes increasingly acceptable to be used in our life.
First, why should we upgrade our knowledge when AI can do what writers do faster?
Secondly, why should we, as a writer, care about this type of book in this day and age?
After flipping through its pages and researching more about Gary Provost, I realized that what he said isn’t some type of bollocks. While he passed away in the 90’s there is still some relevancy of what he’s saying in the book. As the first few pages start off smoothly with the basics of writing, he touches on the writer’s block and how to overcome it. In this book, he gives a clear example between bad vs good writing and how we can refine the ideas that we’re writing.
While even in the age of AI, to become a prompter, it is necessary to have these basic knowledge on how to write. These basics can help fine tune the prompt to give an exact and more elaborate style. For example, there are many images created by Dall-E with a certain prompt that could mimic the style of big names animators. Without a good grasp of writing, this could have been impossible.
Though this type of book might lose its relevance in the future, I think as a seasoned writer and beginners should not hesitate to upgrade our writing knowledge. I learned from this book that I still struggle in using active voice rather than passive voice. Gary mentioned in the book that ‘ it holds the reader closer to what you write because it creates a stronger sense that “something is happening.
Another thing that I find quite intriguing from the book is also “ how to make people like what you write”. In this section Gary lays out a few approaches that help readers sympathize with our writing. He writes “In order to write successfully, you don’t have to become a great writer. But you do have to make yourself likable.” This is different from AI’s approach where it feels lifeless and void of humanity. It’s another reason that if you’re serious about writing, you have to check out this book. As much as he also writes about how to make people like our writing, he also has a section that advises what to avoid in writing.
What I personally enjoyed towards the end of the book is the section on how to edit our work. There’s a part where some questions are laid to see if our writing is actually ready to be published out there. That gives the perfect ending to this book and it’s like a smooth landing from an aircraft. While some of its information is quite outdated, there are parts that still have relevance even in the age of AI writers. Finally, another takeaway is that,giving life into writing that is not devoid of humanity which could help people relate and read our writings.
cover thumbnail from my e-reader
 | 𝘔𝘢𝘤 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘫𝘢 & 𝘤𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘶𝘳 . 𝘈 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴, 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘨, 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴, 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴, 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴, 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘖𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘯, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘚𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝘍𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯! 𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘱𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦, 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬. 𝘈 𝘳𝘦-𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘰. |
This sounds really interesting, and something I should read. Especially the section about passive and active voice.
Sometimes when I'm writing it seems to flow, but then some days it's clunky, mechanical, and I don't feel that my pacing is that great. Also, I can sometimes hyper focus on over used things like, "he done this," or "he done that." I need to find more ways to describe actions from the eyes of a person, rather than saying what they're doing.
I'm on the final chapter of a novella I've been writing, so the end section on editing could be really useful too.
Thanks for the post, you've given me some food for though and a new author to read!
Right! I struggle with that too because I think there's moderation in everything. Even something that becomes too descriptive become boring. If you're interested do check out his work, it's pretty helpful when you're looking for an input for a editing.
PS: sorry just got back here, I am currently moving in between home + hospital :')
That's true, yeah being bogged down in description and details can impact the flow of the writing just as much. I'll be sure to check it out. I have two of Joseph Campbells books, 'the heros jounrey,' and 'the hero with a thousand faces'
They're worth looking into too, he draws similarities between all successful stories and even myths from around the world and the connections between all elements that make for good stories.
Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, are you okay?
This stands out for me and a constant thought on my mind everytime I want to publish something. A way of valuing our readers and what they consume.
I agree this book is worth reading. I'm always looking to improve my writing. The art of writing is dynamic and should never be obsolete. Thanks for sharing.
Glad to see someone who still believe it won't be obsolete. I mean, with the rise of AI they can also be trained but there's that devoid feeling of humanity where to be fair, imperfections are part of it.
Publishing into a platform is also something that relates to that as well. It's like we have to know what our readers like to read and enjoy checking out. That way, the can relate to what we're writing about.
PS: sorry just got back here, I am currently moving in between home + hospital :')
I had to go check if I could get the soft copy of this book after reading, I only saw the summary which I think is quite helpful if I should read it through.
The "100 ways" in the book title caught my attention as I wouldn't have imagined there were that much ways I don't know yet.
I love to write but I know I have a long way to go in being better at it, this review is for me 😅 and yeah, I also think it has it's relevance in this age of AI writers.
I am sure there are pdfs around. I got the PDF from shopee, so I am sure it's somewhere. It's pretty helpful book if you're serious writer especially the parts to make people like what you write or how to make reader's hooked with your writing. Thanks for checking out :) I hope to be more active soon hehe.
Oh great? I'll find the pdf then
Thanks for sharing.
Looking forward to seeing you being more active then hehe
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