Sunday, November 17, 2024

Write Better Plus the Brick House

"Writing is easy. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed." - Ernest Hemingway

Communicate better on and off the court to elevate your value. Part of that is writing better. Study great writers and books about writing. 

MVB has produced many elite players (19 All-State selections) and successful graduates winning in life. Hannah Brickley was recently inducted into the Trinity College Hall of Fame. 

Five ideas for improvement 

1) Read more. I'm reading "I, Alex Cross," by James Patterson and "Rhetoric" by Aristotle. Patterson says of his books, "the pages turn themselves." 

2) Study the best. Stephen King's "On Writing" describes his career arc and his beliefs about writing. Use strong verbs and fewer adverbs. Anne Lamott's "Bird by Bird" shares many of her concepts. MasterClass shares writing concepts from authors like Patterson, Malcolm Gladwell, Dan Brown, Margaret Atwood, and others. 

3) Copy the writing of others. Benjamin Franklin undertook a printing apprenticeship to access writing to improve his. He would cut up others' writing and work to improve it as well as rewriting theirs to see if it could be improved. 

4) Write as a habit. James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, says our actions are votes for the person we want to become. If you want to become a better volleyball player, play a lot. To write better, write more. 

5) Access writing tools. In addition to artificial intelligence, consider AnalyzeMyWriting.com. 

 


I want to write at about an eighth grade level.

Don't compare yourself to others. Compare yourself to your yesterday self. 

Lagniappe. Exceptional players leave their comfort zone.
 

For me, Hannah Brickley stands alone as "The Queen of Melrose Volleyball." 


No comments: