Yesterday I had one of my brighter young officers proof-read my lengthy project paper for proper sentence flow, factual accuracy and grammar. Her Engrish quite the 'tok kong' one so I wanted her honest opinion and feedback. Verdict? errrr, her exact words were "good structure but typical insipid gahment style that makes me yawn by page 2". Lucky she's chio and so gets away with murder :))
But it got me thinking. My standard of writing has degenerated over the years. Especially when all I do these days is vet boring reports and craft emails with such interesting phrases as 'Pls deal', 'FYNA', 'See Me' and 'Noted'. Nowadays, I am 'arrowed' only occasionally by the big boss to come up with some project papers. And even with such 'insipid gahment style' reports, I find myself struggling to sometimes get my facts across in a coherent and less-rambling manner. Sigh, aging lah..
And I was reminded of the issue yet again today while reading an article in the Sunday papers about a journalist who attended a creative writing course and her experiences. It brought me back to the time when I used to indulge in a spot of creative-writing in Primary School and when the standard of my prose was better. You know I had a book of short stories that was photo-copied and passed around amongst my classmates by my Pri6 English Teacher. In Secondary School, my English Compositions were almost always read out in class and I was Editor of the School Mag. Junior College saw me editing the school General Paper Bulletin which was basically a published collection of outstanding GP essays that served as a guide for those struggling with the subject.
So you see, I have largely been involved in writing and perhaps improving the writings of others. So it was particulary embarassing to have someone call your words 'insipid' :))
Well back to that journalist and the creative-writing course she attended. Well she said that the ang-mo expert who conducted the course had these tips for would-be creative-writers :
a. Just get the pen moving across the page and try not to stop and edit yourself. There is such a thing as a 1st Draft.
b. Writing is like exercise, the more you do it, the better you get.
c. Show, don't tell. Don't just say "Anne is 64", use details such as bifocals or grey hair to flesh her age out.
d. Go with the flow and don't assume that you know where your story is going before you even start.
e. Read good fiction and pick an author whose style you admire and read more of his/her work.
f. Voicing your own written words can help you figure out the places in the prose that just don't work. If it doesn't sound right, it probably isn't.
Basic but rather sound advise actually. Although Creative Writing is different from Factual Report Writing in terms of content, I feel there is much to learn from the former about marrying style and substance, in order to make for better reading and presentation in the latter.
Lets see if Unkster gives me the sort of creative practise I so crave for to improve myself. Obviously from what my bright young officer says, I do have some way to go...;))