TECH: Lessons from Julian

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Original Posting 22 August 2009

Writer's Digest, August 2006, pages 74 and 75, have an article by I. J. Schecter with the title, "kids teach the darndest things." Basically, this is 10 lessons about writing that Schecter learned from his three-year-old son Julian. I'll summarize, but the stories about watching Julian do things are fun -- you ought to read the article.

1. Build towers one block at a time. Writing projects are big and daunting. Break them into little steps, then work on that one small block. Set the big picture aside for the moment.
2. Use your imagination. "When writing a new piece, I rarely know what's going to work ahead of time -- so I have to be willing to experiment. For a toddler, pushing the envelope is second nature. When I asked Julian to brush his teeth and he says, 'It's not a toothbrush, it's a dragon,' I'm not surprised; I'm reminded of the importance of looking at things in fresh ways."
3. Be open to new directions. Sometimes pushing ahead just makes things worse. Do you insist on brushing with a dragon, or go in search of prey and play? Accept the new possibilities, and enjoy the fun.
4. Ask "why." Great stories mean you to know your characters. Toddlers do exhaustive inquiry -- why is it this way? Why isn't it this other thing? Questions and questions and questions. That's what you need to ask, too.
5. Keep it simple. Overexplaining to children often results in them looking at you and telling you the simple truth. Keep it simple, direct, and don't bother repeating umpteen times, because that's just boring.
6. Earn the cookie. We encourage children with little rewards and cheers. Do it for yourself, too. When you hit your goals, reward yourself. Cheer for yourself.
7. Get to the point. Listening to other people tell stories, you may have noticed that they start over here, tell you about what they had for breakfast, drag in something else, and so forth and so on... until you've forgotten what you asked in the first place. What was the point? Do the newspaper thing -- get the point in early, then tell all the other stuff.
8. Learn from others. Children pay a lot of attention to each other, observing and trying to imitate. Writers need to read and learn from other writers, too.
9. Plunge in. That quality of absorption, of being focused on and diving in... give yourself permission to let go and do it. Dive in and wrestle with that new idea for a while to find out what you can do with it.
10. Allow do-overs. When a tower of blocks isn't quite right, Julian feels no compunction about knocking it all down and starting over again. Tackle your writing the same way. Aim for perfection, and don't be afraid of making sweeping changes.

There's an implicit lesson here too. There are ideas and guidance about writing everywhere -- it's just a piece of life. So don't get too tied up in trying to get lessons from the aged masters of the art -- Julian has things to teach you too.

Just for fun, over the next week or so, put together your own list of 10 lessons about writing, along with the little stories or explanations of where you found it and what it means to you. Something for your journal perhaps? Or you could post it here on writers.

(to be honest, I'm not sure which I. J. Schecter this is. Does it matter, really, as long as the lessons are instructive? Ad hominem -- that's usually considered a fallacy because people tend to devalue information based on what else the person may have done in their life -- a criminal, a gambler, or whatever -- but it's also a mistake to accept information without criticism based on the person being something special -- rich, powerful, etc. -- isn't it? Does good advice lose its luster when it come from a rusty source? )