I did a Writing AMA on LinkedIn. Here’s how it went.
Lots of questions, lots of answers.
I did two writing AMAs.
As promised in the AMAs, the answers were officially delivered.
I sound like someone who swallowed a sandpaper which occasionally chooses to move through my throat, as evidenced by my cracking voice…but I blame my allergies for that.
I also seem like a pretentious writer who has written a million bestsellers, but that’s just an illusion. I am just a young writer who’s learning things as I wade through the complex world of writing.
There are sixteen writing questions and sixteen writing answers.
If you don’t want to listen to the blah-blah, the TL;DL — Too Long; Didn’t Listen version is mentioned right under the answer.
If you don’t want to read the blah-blah, the TL;DR — Too Long; Didn’t Read version is mentioned right under the answer.
I thoroughly enjoyed myself with this AMA. Allegedly, my followers on LinkedIn did as well.
So what are you waiting for?
Check my AMA out!
Question 1: What is ghost-writing?
TL;DL: You write a book using someone else’s concepts/ideas/life stories for upfront pay and no credit.
Question 2: What is your process of ghost-writing a book?
TL;DL: Understand the client’s concept/idea/story — conduct intensive research — arrange the research using colour coding — prepare the book’s skeleton — start writing.
Question 3: Can anyone be a content writer or does it require something special?
TL;DL: Yes. It’s mostly about having basic working knowledge of a language and knowing how to google smartly.
Question 4: Which kind of rhetorical form do you like to use the most?
Disclaimer: There’s a lag with 👇 video. The video begins at the 2:15 timestamp. Sorry for the inconvenience.
TL;DL: My order of rhetorical preference is Expository>Descriptive>Persuasive>Narrative.
Question 5: Why did you choose writing as your profession?
TL;DL: Always wrote, knew I would be a bad engineer, MBA wasn’t my cup of tea, wanted to become a writer; luckily got lucky.
Question 6: How to find clients as a freelancer?
TL;DL: Via referrals and hashtags.
Question 7: What is your brainstorming technique?
TL;DL: Read a lot of stuff on the topic; think a lot about the stuff I read; make connections; go OHHHHH!
Question 8: Do you feel bad about not getting ghost-writing credits?
TL;DL: No because I use ghost-writing as my practice ground.
Question 9: What’s your biggest writing enemy?
TL;DL: Me and Time.
Question 10: Was writing a choice you made or something made you choose?
TL;DL: It’s a choice I made.
Question 11: How to sound like a good nonfic writer?
Answer 11: A good vocabulary helps you express yourself well in the world of nonfiction writing. If you are looking to sound like a successful nonfiction writer, have a robust vocabulary at your disposal. Have a niche-specific vocabulary.
Normal conversations sound simple. Don’t aspire for normalcy.
TL;DR: Sound fancy.
Question 12: Is a fancy vocabulary required for articles and blogs too or just nonfiction books?
Answer 12: No, because articles and blogs are about holding on to an audience. With nonfiction, the focus is on extrapolating a premise and coming to a set of argument and/or conclusions in the end.
For blogs — keep it simple.
For articles — depends on the purpose of the article.
For good non fiction that forces you to make an effort in terms of understanding the words and the concepts — take full liberties with the language and the ideas.
With popular nonfiction, the purpose is mostly to educate the masses; inspire them to read. These books had a message that they wanted to convey at the end of a book without any doubts. For that, simplicity is better.
Great nonfiction writers aim is to start a dialogue, one based of their observations and conclusions. They therefore use vocabulary as a tool to create maybe ambiguity, maybe state an unpopular opinion, etc.
TL;DR: Know what your writing piece needs to do. Then make a call about going simple or otherwise.
Question 13: Should I avoid using metaphors in nonfiction and use metaphors for fiction writing?
Answer 13: I think generalizations should be avoided while writing a book. For blogs/articles, go right ahead.
Metaphors can be good, they can be bad. For instance Kate Raworth’s Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist and W. W. Rostow’s Stages of Economic Growth essentially talk about the economy of their times. Ms. Raworth however whittled it down to a metaphor of the human body. She did it so simply and so well that I preferred her explanation over the explanations of one of the most prolific economists to grace the earth.
It’s all about the metaphor and how you use it.
There’s no golden rule per say.
TL;DR: Avoid generalizations (in my opinion).
Question 14: What should I avoid as a writer?
Answer 14: For starters, you should be a part of a writing community. I don’t mean one that supports and shares your work; I mean one where you can run your ideas through and your community doesn’t echo your sentiments, they challenge them. When that happens, your premise will strengthen, your ideas will gain more healthy weight, and if your community is great, you might get a new idea of your own.
So, one thing you avoid as a writer will be to have a ‘circle jerk’ writing community. Circle jerks are essentially a group of people with a shared interest that get together and congratulate one another for sharing that interest. These are people who will only say nice, noncritical, nonspecific things about your work and you will reciprocate by doing the same for them. You will tag them, they will tag you. Networking will happen; brainstorming won’t. The circle will go round and round and you’ll have yourself a writers’ echo chamber/bubble. Please don’t let that happen to you. Have a circle jerk community and an actual writing community. Enjoy the best of both worlds.
Writers are supposed to be imaginative souls whose existence is supposed to be this giant question that needs to answered in different ways at different points in time.
TL;DR: Don’t create an echo chamber for your ideas.
Question 15: Is being bilingual a disadvantage while writing?
Answer 15: I speak four languages fluently. There are many more that I can understand, but not speak yet. The point is, I definitely write in spite of my lingual status.
I know how you definitely experience some sort of block, mostly about language usage while trying to write in a language (English) you haven’t spoken your entire life.
I know how you definitely feel the inability of English to translate some local words accurately.
Now coming to the answer, honestly, it depends on why you’re writing and who you’re writing for.
It makes more sense for me to write in English because I read more in English. I also studied in English, so I am more comfortable with writing in English. That’s not to say that I don’t write in Hindi, Gujarati or Japanese. I do write in every language I attempt to learn. I however get the most enjoyment from writing in English.
Embrace your languages and the cultures that come along with them. There’s no need to write in just one language because there is a market for content in every language out there.
Elitist writers (in any language) will find some excuse to look down on your work and you. Remember that we don’t write for people like that. We write for ourselves. We write for our audiences.
Despite the young ingenue that I am, I know how this feeling of searching for words will never go away. It will never go away. So, embrace the struggle.
TL;DR: Do all sorts of writing; bilingual writing included. Write more of what you enjoy.
Question 16: Why do you use sarcasm or satire?
Answer 16: Here’s my honest answer.
Sarcasm is an idiot’s wit, and I am a giant idiot.
Satire inverts power. You take something painful and satirise it, you take away the pain from the narrative. Writing satire makes me feel powerful. I like feeling powerful.
I mean be honest, what would you rather say?
“Greek Stoic philosopher named Epictetus (Ἐπίκτητος).”
OR
A satirised, “Smart Greek guy named Epic titties.”
TL;DR: I am immature.
That’s a wrap folks 😊
I hope the answers were satisfactory.
I hope this mixed media format of answering questions was fun!
Now, endure a bit through my social media links because why not?
Follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Medium, Twitter, Quora, and YouTube.
Give all of these a look-see and ask any question. As you can see, I like to reply.
Originally published on LinkedIn.
