Great Advice From Influential Writers About Their Writing Routines/Processes

If you could ask a famous writer for any piece of advice, what would you ask? To learn from people who have been in your shoes before, would make all the difference. To be able to learn from them about the art of writing in itself, if they had any tips that they wish they would’ve known when starting off, or even what resources or activities did they find helpful for them during the writing process. There have been and currently are so many influential writers that could provide great advice to beginners or even people that have been doing it for years and years.

              One of the most influential writers that I would’ve loved speaking with is Maya Angelou. Her work was so profound that it’s still quoted to this day, and I can see it being quoted for years to come. During a 2011 interview with O, The Oprah Magazine, Angelou was asked how someone writes a poem. Her answer was very simple but the way she phrased it painted a picture in your mind: “like a pianist runs her fingers over the keys. I’ll search my mind for what to say. Now, the poem may want you to write it. And then sometimes you see a situation and think, ‘I’d like to write about that.’” The few times I have written poems and written recreationally, this is how my process has been. That has been the work that’s made the biggest impact to me personally.

              There is no simple answer for how to get started when attempting to write. Do what works for you, but you should keep one thing in mind: you will eventually have to get the words out. Stephen King is another writer that I would describe as influential, and in his book “On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft”, King talks about some of the experiences that have shaped him and his work. In a quote about how to start off writing, King says you just have to start. “Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.” In the beginning stages of a writing career, I can agree that the process can be intimidating and sometimes you just have to wait for inspiration to strike if you’re drawing the blank, but as you get more experience the best route is to just writer even if it’s just a rough draft or outline.

              Something that I will always advocate for is keeping your writing simple. There’s no need for extra words when one will suffice or in some cases even flamboyant wording. One writer that agrees with this is Beatrix Potter, author of The Tale of Peter Rabbit. Potter has said ‘the shorter and the plainer the better.’ This way the audience will have no trouble understanding. You’ll leave no room for interpretation if the message is clear and concise.

              These are some of my favorite quotes that I’ve come across, but there is no singular way to write, but there is advice that can be helpful no matter what’s happening. Try looking into what other writers have to say about the writing process to see if there are things that you can adopt in your process.

Happy Writing :)

What Is the Current State of Internal Communication in Organizations and How Can It Be Better?

Axios HQ, the internal communications company that specializes in AI-powered software, released their 2024 report on the state of internal communications and it was surprising. The report was based on two surveys that were conducted in 2023, one being for communicators and leaders across industries and organizations of all sizes and the other being for employees inside similar organizations. The overarching focus of the report is that there is a large gap in what leaders think is happening in the workplace, compared to what is actually happening. Some of the themes that they’ve found across all of the organizations surveyed include salary waste, alignment breakdown, and retention risk. All of the themes are a result of ineffective communication.

One of the most shocking statistics from the survey, was just three pages into the report in the introduction section: “47% of C-level leaders say it’s hard to know what employees care about most and what they need to hear.” The simplest solution that I can think of, that I feel is overlooked most of the time is just ask your employees. There’s no other way to learn what employees care about other than to ask them directly. Organizations can be creative in the ways that they ask their employees, but they should never assume what the answers are. This is where communication comes into play, because an organization’s ability to stay strong and grow is dependent on its ability “to understand—and address—what’s causing the disconnect” which is usually a result of a breakdown in alignment and communication. If an organization wants to be successful, then they need to make sure that they have strong goals and an engaged workforce that’s able to deliver on those goals.

Organizations need to look at how much time they’re spending, or in most cases, how much time and money they’re wasting on dealing with the impacts of ineffective communication. Salaries are being wasted as a result of employees spending up to two hours each day clarifying details that are needed to do their jobs. What can we do to reduce the amount of time and money wasted? According to the report, most employees are rarely taught how to communicate effectively, so there is a need for training or support from a communication leader. This can be in the form of workshops, guides, etc.

What’s more important than making sure all key figures in an organization are on the same page? In my opinion, nothing is more important, but the report shows just how big of a breakdown there is in alignment. When the survey was being conducted, employees ranked a list of topics according to how critical they are to doing their jobs well and how often they get updates from leaders on these key topics and the two topics that are least critical to them doing their jobs are what they receive updates on most often. This shows how far-removed leaders are from employee’s realities. But even with the information and updates that employees are receiving, they still said that they aren’t effective enough. Besides hoping to get these updates more frequently, employees think that they could be more relevant and insightful. They also would like the opportunity to provide feedback.

To sum up the report in only four words: organizations can do better. They should want to do better for the sake of their employees and for the sake of the organization’s future. Employees want to feel heard and shown that the relationship with the organization isn’t one-sided. Without effective internal communication, organizations risk a lack of engagement and collaboration among employees, which results in a decrease in productivity. Soon after, we’ll see employees leaving. Pretty much any organization no matter the industry they’re in, can use the data discussed in the report to create an action plan to improve their internal communications. Like Axios HQ says in the report, communication is the core of any strategy. “Start with data. Be visible. Stay accessible.”

Three Ways That AI Will Improve Your Writing and Workflow

When AI was first introduced to the public, I can admit that I wasn’t a fan. I felt like if someone used AI it was considered cheating or taking the easy way out of writing. Outside of what was talked about in the news, I never looked much into it. I attended a conference for work in 2023, and one of the presenters was a CEO of a company that works closely with AI. They use it to create email mailings to send to students in customer relationship managements systems. During the presentation, he demonstrated how we could use AI to help create a subject line that would grab the audience’s attention. Once he typed a prompt in, it only took the AI a couple of seconds to spit out a subject line that was really good. Once it produced an email, I was even more impressed. I was surprised at how well it was written. He framed it as AI could be used as a tool or as an aid in my work, and I was sold. AI can help improve your writing and workflow by assisting with idea generation and outlining, the editing process, and with research and fact-checking.

Idea Generation and Outlining

              If you know there’s a topic that you want to talk about but don’t know how to start off or from what angle you should approach it, you can use AI to help generate ideas. You can start off with a broad topic and ask it open-ended questions until you can get down to a specific topic. I find the more specific you can get with what you’re looking for, the better.  Like mentioned previously, if you’re looking the perfect subject line or headline to get the reader’s attention, then you can have it give you ideas. It can help you organize your thoughts by outlining what you’ll be talking about.

Editing Process

              AI can be used as a tool in the editing process. It can check for grammar, punctuation, and language. You can use it to help reduce the word count in your work. If you have something that’s too long, then you can type it in and ask the AI to shorten it, it will do just that. It can give you ideas for how to refine your work. You can really use it as a second set of eyes in this key stage of the writing process. It might even catch something that you may have overlooked.

Research and Fact-Checking

              You can use AI as an efficient way of doing research and fact-checking your work. Try asking AI questions about what information you have to gather research. It could give you information that you may not have found or known about. Use it to verify that all information is correct.  It can also provide you with sources for you to do further research on your own.

There are different AI generated websites that you can try including ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini. Don’t be afraid to test them out. It’s amazing what they can do.  In my opinion, it’s okay for AI to be used for things that don’t try to replace the writer. It’s just software, so it should never be the sole resource we have. I don’t think it’s something that should be used as a replacement in any case.  If used correctly, AI can be one of the most efficient tools to have in our writing toolboxes.