Writing
is a skill that is improved through practice, so officers should seek
every opportunity to write and therefore to improve their technical
ability to write. Imagination and the desire for self-improvement play a
large part in the effectiveness of an individual's writing.Some people know the mechanics of how to write, but they are not very good writers because they don't have the imagination to add the appropriate descriptive phrase, adverb, adjective, whatever it is that makes this thing live A little, makes it more readable, more appealing. I don't think you necessarily can teach just anyone to be a professional writer, but you can help them improve, I would encourage young officers not to draw away from the normal approach to writing tasks but to accept them as a challenge to create, just as any other artist does.
Rarely is rewriting unnecessary. Write it, read it, and, as a consequence of reading it, write it again and work it and rework it and get suggestions and get it critiqued.
General Barrow, NAVAL LEADERSHIP - VOICES OF EXPERIENCE
That is such a true statement. It's very rare that quality written work is simply written, it's normally rewritten then rewritten again.
ReplyDeleteNext month will be my 59th published article, and there isn't one of them I wouldn't still like to go back and edit one more time.
ReplyDeleteThis is a most excellent article. I fully agree with it.
ReplyDeleteAt the back of the mind keep this always, "perfect is the enemy of good enough." I worked for people who did this right and also for those who had to rewrite it for the umpteenth time until meaning was lost because they knew what they meant but had progressed beyond saying it anymore in their latest draft. Plus, they were usually late and missed deadlines.
That said, it always helps to reread and edit any first draft.