: Re: How to overcome the fact that I can't write? My problem is that I basically suck at writing. Especially prose. Part of it is basically because I don't practice as much as I could. Part

I agree with practice and read. One thing that sort of intersects those two is Malcolm Gladwell's book "outliers" - tinyurl.com/22rn2fc. In outliers, Gladwell claims that developing world-class expertise in a subject area takes around 10,000 hours. That's 20 hours a week, every week, for about ten years. (Gladwell is also an incredibly strong popular writer who writes for "The New Yorker" magazine.)

If you want to write one place to start is a blog. My friend John Bruce has been blogging for years and it's been a pleasure watching his writing improve - mthollywood.blogspot.com/

Lately his writing as been political and analysis of his publishing adventures, but go back to 2004-2007 and you'll see piles of writing - thousands and thousands of words:
mthollywood.blogspot.com/2004_12_01_archive.html
The problem is that your early writing might not get you very far. You might not feel progress. It probably won't take ten years, but it might take a lot, lot of time to get something published.

So don't make it about the publishing. Make it about the writing. So let me borrow one more idea from Jerry Weinberg, who has written forty-odd books (including "Weinberg on Writing"; great read - tinyurl.com/2eddcl8 ).

Jerry's suggestion is to get a glass jar, and count the words you write. Every so many words (1,000? 5,000?) you take a penny and put it in the jar. Make a little ritual of it. Celebrate.

And watch your jar grow.

There's no certainty, but if you read, and study (final suggestion "On Writing", Steven King - tinyurl.com/34co7e), and practice consciously, and revise, and seek feedback, by the time that jar is full -- I bet this post no longer applies.

I could be wrong, but "I've got a feelin'..."

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: Publishing for Kindle I am very keen to get into writing, and have come up with several outline plots for short stories, novels and even trilogies. However, one hurdle, which I expect is not

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: It's a common theme in writing today to make it dull and boring, as long sentences are praised and complicated, sesquipedalian words are placed on a lofty pedestal. Detaching all sense of

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: How should I phrase "requests" to a higher-ranked individual in another department? At work, I lead a small team of programmers. I often have to request equipment and services from our I.T.

: Re: How to overcome the fact that I can't write? My problem is that I basically suck at writing. Especially prose. Part of it is basically because I don't practice as much as I could. Part

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: Publishing for Kindle I am very keen to get into writing, and have come up with several outline plots for short stories, novels and even trilogies. However, one hurdle, which I expect is not

: It's a common theme in writing today to make it dull and boring, as long sentences are praised and complicated, sesquipedalian words are placed on a lofty pedestal. Detaching all sense of

: How should I phrase "requests" to a higher-ranked individual in another department? At work, I lead a small team of programmers. I often have to request equipment and services from our I.T.

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