"This is real take-it-to-the-keyboard stuff that comes from a lifetime of working with writers," Jack Hart says of his new book, A Writer's Coach. A managing editor of The Oregonian newspaper, Jack has spent almost four decades editing, writing and coaching journalists and other writers. The result of this experience is his practical guide to "words that work." We talked to Jack about writing.
VT: In your book you deflate the "mystique" of writing.
Jack: The mystique associated with writing has been a real impediment to would-be writers because it intimidates them. I think schools have perpetuated this, largely by using polished work as teaching examples.
VT: How do writers get over this mystique?
Jack: One of the most revealing things I've ever done is post multiple drafts of a journalist's stories on the web. Editors and writers were astonished by how much the work developed in the final three drafts. And these were Pulitzer Prize-winning stories. That removed a lot of the mystique right there -- seeing that the very best writers don't start off with a glowing, polished piece of jewelry.
VT: Is your book aimed mostly at journalists?
Jack: Oh no, no, no. All writers face the same challenges. I think they're remarkably unified about what the general characteristics of good writing are. Ask any group of professional writers and they'll agree that good writing has impact and energy, that it's clear, rhythmic and colorful. The trick is coming up with the specific techniques to meet these general goals.
There are two ingredients to writing. The first is method, which takes up the first two chapters of the book. And the second is craft, which consists of a collection of skills. The bulk of my book is devoted to craft -- those tricks of the trade I've picked up in my 40-year career.
VT: What do you see as a key challenge facing writers?
Jack: A lot of the content of good writing comes from the work a writer does before his or her hands ever touch the keyboard. For example, refining an idea that will lead to a good piece of writing. An awful lot of writers don't work long enough, hard enough or deep enough to develop their ideas because they've never been equipped with a method for doing that. If this book accomplishes nothing else except give folks strategies for how they might do a better job of refining ideas, then it will have been a useful contribution.
