26 January 2012
Image by NLNY
Political movements have been big news around the world for the past year, from ‘Arab Spring’ marches in the Middle East to the ‘Occupy’ movement in the US and Europe. People are protesting against corrupt governments and greedy corporations. They’re marching for those who hope for democracy and fair treatment and for those who have lost jobs and been cheated out of homes and pensions.
Protestors in the US chant ‘We are the 99 percent!’ – referring to the majority of people who feel they’re at the mercy of the top 1% of wealth owners.
What can we learn from the 99%?
Many lessons, to be sure.
For example, when you get enough people angry about something for long enough, they will begin to fight back. And when a large majority of people start to fight for basic human rights, the results might be ugly at first. Case in point, the people pepper-sprayed and beaten and even killed by police or the military.
But give them long enough, and beautiful things can result.
What about the 90%?
In last week’s post, I wrote about a line from the play Red where Mark Rothko’s character says that only 10% of painting involves applying paint to the canvas, and 90% involves thinking about the work.
We applied that lesson to the thinking time required for writing excellence.
Before you write the first draft, you think through the needs of the reader, the purpose of the document, the action you want the reader to take. You plan all the necessary details to achieve your purpose and then structure them in a logical order.
After you write your first draft (‘apply the paint’), which may be ugly at first, you ‘march’ through the document over and over again, revising it to follow your ROADmap.
You chant the mantra, ‘Be concise, be clear, be coherent!’ You think through changes, cutting text and adding detail. And sometimes you toss out the whole thing and start again.
Just like thinking painters. Just like thinking protestors. Just like anyone wanting something better in life.
And what about you?
How much thinking time do you devote to your writing before you type the words? And how much thinking time do you devote to revising the words you’ve written?
Do you have any tips to share with us on ways to make sure you spend enough thinking time when you write? Please add them to the comments.