The Big Fresh December 3, 2016 Tics

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A bad habit never disappears miraculously. It’s an undo-it-yourself project.

                                                                                                        Abigail Van Buren

If you live in Maine and spend any time outdoors, you’ve got to be vigilant about looking out for ticks. These small, nasty critters lurk in the grass and weeds, and a bite from one can be the source of a debilitating disease. You don’t come through the door after any time outdoors without a quick and careful search for ticks.

Lately I’ve been thinking about a different kind of tic — those idiosyncratic features that show up, unconsciously and unbidden, in any writer’s work. They are a different kind of blood sucker, draining the vitality out of writing.  We all have them, and whether you’re writing newsletters for parents or memos to the school board, ferreting out your writing tics can improve your communication in subtle but potent ways. Here are three of the most common tics found in writing from teachers and school leaders:

Relying on “the research says” to make a point.  Research matters, but you need to trust your own authority. And if you don’t yet have authority with your audience, establish it with the honest, unvarnished and funny stories from your classroom and school that you share freely with others. Heck, your audience won’t even trust the research you cite if they don’t trust you first.

Relying on “the research says” to make a point.  Research matters, but you need to trust your own authority. And if you don’t yet have authority with your audience, establish it with the honest, unvarnished and funny stories from your classroom and school that you share freely with others. Heck, your audience won’t even trust the research you cite if they don’t trust you first.

Overuse of  just, really, and pretty.  These spare words and qualifiers minimize the value of your ideas. On one level, they are throat-clearers — the professional’s equivalent of a teen’s like and you know.  On another level, they take the oomph out of whatever word follows. Remove them from almost any sentence, and you’ll be amazed at the new rhythm and clarity in your writing.

Too many exclamation points!!! You may be using these to convey how excited you are!!! Instead, trust that the ideas and experiences you are presenting can generate excitement all by themselves.

As Dani Shapiro notes in Still Writing, “Our [writing] tics are a road map to our most hidden and sensitive wounds.” As I’ve looked at my own writing tics and those of the authors I’ve edited, I realize they are all generated from a wellspring of fear. We don’t trust our voice, or authority, or that others will value the experiences we are recounting as much as we do. Ridding writing of tics won’t take away that sense of vulnerability all of us have in putting words out to the world, but it will make you a better writer.

This week we look at how to teach revision. Plus more as always — enjoy!

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