Word count: 241 words
Reading time: About 1 minute
This is my weekly installment of “writing about writing,” in which I scan the world to find websites, books and articles to help writers. Today I provide a link to a blog post by prolific writer Vivek Wadhwa.
I want to thank my reader Edith Kurie for passing along a link to a fantastic blog post by Vivek Wadhwa (pictured above). I hadn’t heard of him before but that reflects more on my reading habits (weak on the business press) than on his prodigious output. An academic and researcher he now writes for the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, ASEE Prism Magazine and Bloomberg BusinessWeek.
But, get this: Writing is just a hobby for him. Interestingly, he has no training as a journalist. He’s self-taught as a writer and his blog post, titled How I Became A Prolific Writer and Learned to Get Beyond School Essays gives a primer on how you can teach yourself to do the same thing.
I agree with his argument that writers need to “speak fearlessly from the heart, get to the point immediately, keep the message simple and focused, and use the fewest words [they] can.” But I particularly endorse his suggestion that you write as if speaking to a friend. This is especially useful advice for anyone trained in academic writing where — as I like to joke with my friends — professors have to be paid to read your work.
