There is More to Writing than Just Proper Grammar and Sentence Structure
After a month of publishing a blog every two days, I wanted to focus on improving my writing. As I’m blogging and creating my voice I am learning to develop my own writing style. I’m focusing on sentence structure and proper grammar. I am also rewriting run-on sentences and focusing on getting rid of unnecessary words.
As I am working on my writing I am studying the lives of successful writers and their sentence structure, writing style, writing format, and most importantly, where they seek their creativity. I was determined to figure out what makes Mark Twain and Hunter S. Thompson successful writers. These are the greats that I want to model my writing after. These are the people that have made a dent in the world of literature, and they have become the best through their own unique style. They are the rebels that took risks to find great stories.
As I am learning about these two gentleman, I realized that my approach to writing is completely wrong. I was having the wrong mindset. It’s not that they were known for their great writing styles, it’s that they were known for living a life worth writing about. Their novels were inspired by life events and their constant travels.
Mark Twain wrote about his constant travels. His experiences in the American West inspired “Roughing It” and his experiences in Angel Camp, California, provided material for “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.” In 1867, Twain took a tour of Europe and the Middle East, he wrote a popular collection of travel letters, which were later compiled as “The Innocents Abroad.” When he was four years old, Twain’s family moved to Hannibal, Missouri, a port town on the Mississippi River that inspired the fictional town of St. Petersburg in, “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.”
Hunter S. Thompson created his own style of journalism, which he termed “gonzo.” Gonzo is a style of journalism where reporters involve themselves in the action to such a degree that they become central figures of their stories. Thompson’s most notable works are “Hell’s Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga,” “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream,” and “The Rum Diary.”
In “Hell’s Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga” Thompson shares his experiences living with the Hells Angels, a notorious motorcycle club in California. The author spent over a year learning about their unique subculture and immersing himself in their lifestyle.
“Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream” is a novel written with real life incidents that Thompson encounters after visiting Las Vegas. “The Rum Diary” is a novel based on his experiences while working in Puerto Rico.
Living a life worth writing about is clearly subjective to your value system. Nonetheless, here are a few ideas:
Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride.
In the words of Hunter S. Thompson, “No sympathy for the devil; keep that in mind. Buy the ticket, take the ride… and if it occasionally gets a little heavier than you had in mind, well… maybe chalk it off to forced conscious: Tune in, freak out, get beaten.”
Pursue a goal greater than what you have ever set on yourself. Set it big enough and allow doubt to creep in. Set a timeline that will urge you to focus on completing this task and nothing else. The more time and effort you dedicate on your goal the more invested you become, which in return will make it harder to quit.
Travel to Unfamiliar Places.
Traveling to unfamiliar places will allow you to create new experiences. You will be exposed to new people, a new culture, and new beliefs. Travel to places where the culture and way of life is different. Surely you’ll write about the food, the people you meet, and the places you visited. Websites like expedia.com and travelzoo.com make it affordable for anyone to travel. Airlines competing for market share make tickets cheaper than ever. Now that the U.S and Cuba signed an agreement to restore commercial airline services for the first time in 50 years, I have made it a goal of mine to travel to Cuba.
Get Out of Your Comfort Zone.
Anything that gets you out of your comfort zone is worth sharing with others. Join a public speaking class and talk about things that interest you. The great thing about joining is that you are a stranger to others, and everyone is voluntarily there for the same purpose, making it easier for everyone to express themselves without seeking anyone’s approval. Do something you have never done before. Mentor others in need. Teach others a skill or a hobby that you are familiar with. Take a hike or a long walk and take a journal with you to write down your thoughts without the distraction of technology. Go to a networking event and meet new people and become interested in who they are. Make it a goal to only ask questions without talking much about yourself. (This will allow you put all of your focus on them.) Ask someone out to lunch who you haven’t talked to in years. Go to meetup.com and search for local groups in your area. Search for hobbies that you are interested in and attend the meetup.
Obviously proper grammar and sentence structure is important when it comes to writing, but writing about ones unique experiences is what catches a reader’s attention.
