Be A Better Writer

September 18, 2009

Interview with Fred Lybrand creator of The Writing Course

______________

Mike Carruthers:
What is good writing?

Fred Lybrand:
There are two pieces to good writing; one is just getting it correct. And when it's correct, it means people can understand what you actually said.

Fred Lybrand, creator of The Writing Course, says good writing must be clear - but clarity isn't enough - it has to be interesting.

Where people are glad they read it - so that there are dynamics in the writing that invite you to read the next sentence and the next sentence and make it all the way to the end.

An example of interesting writing is the first line of the book, "Through the Looking Glass" by Lewis Carol.

That one, for example, starts with, "It was obviously the black cat's fault..." Now already, aren't you interested? It actually invites you to want to read the next sentence and know what the cat has done. And what most people do is - you know the old:

• Tell them what you're gonna tell them.
• Tell them.
• Tell them what you told them...

That's great for clarity, crummy for interest.

Good writing, says Fred, is about telling a story and you're probably better at it than you think you are.

Everyone seems to know how to do this when they tell a story to children. They say, "Did I ever tell you about the time when I traveled to a mountain made entirely of glass?" Well the kids are suddenly going, " Oh, what happened?" And you're just making it up - but that's it! "And then what, and then what?" Because that's how humans are structured - they like the mystery, they like the chase of the mystery and they like the resolution.

To hear the complete unedited interview, click here.