Picking the Brain of Sean Platt, Writer Dad

Sean Platt (AKA Writer Dad) has taken Blogopolis by storm with his endearing prose and crisp cadences. His gentleness and love for his family and community shine through his writing in a world that often values brashness and looks out solely for number one. (To put it poetically, he’s a breath of fresh air, tinged with the scent of Daisies. Ok, I still suck at this prose stuff.) I was hooked the first time I read his words.

His blog caught fire like dry kindling and soon drew the attention of the “Big Bloggers”. Sean has had a few important guest posts and has several more scheduled at top secret big time websites that you won’t want to miss.

Getting to Know You, Getting to Know All About You

I’ve gotten to know Sean over the last few weeks (as much as email allows), and I can honestly say he’s a genuinely nice guy with huge amounts of natural talent. We are honored that he would agree to this interview. Sean was the first writer I approached, and the first to agree (in like 2.4 seconds).

We started this series because of a deep burning need to find out how top bloggers developed and improved their unique writing styles. Sean answered the same three questions as the other awesome bloggers to keep it consistent, short, and sweet.

What writing habits do you practice daily?

Writing my posts is the most consistent writing I do, besides private journaling about my life and family. I’d love to pull far enough ahead to where I have a bank to pull from, but now that would be difficult. I pen my posts the night before, then publish first thing in the morning. Daily exercise was the impetus to start.

Right now, writing is stuck somewhere between calling and career. I carry a notebook wherever I go, and have them spread in every room in the house. I also have a small digital recorder that I carry. My children call this (aptly) the “Story Maker.” I’m constantly writing inside my head, and am always eager for the moments I have to drain my thoughts. Sometimes this just means transferring notes to relevant files on the computer. Large blocks of time are a rarity now, but in three months, I’ll be writing full time. I’d love you to ask me again then.

What is your process for improving your writing?

When I write, I don’t hold back. I never labor sentence by sentence. I let the words spill, then I bring a mop to the revision. I probably lose a third, but I write fast and never feel bad about what I lose. They’re words; I can always make more.

What books or blog posts have influenced the mechanics of your writing the most?

That’s difficult. Here’s three. Copyblogger’s always to the point with sensible advice. Zen Habits taught me that one speaker could gather a large following in a relatively short period of time. Men with Pens showed me swagger.

As far as books, all of them. I have no memory of learning to read. It was a gift given early. The first big book I remember reading was the Hobbit, at six. I’ve read thousands since, and they all gather together to render me into a better writer. The poorest among them probably had more to do with me picking up a pen than the good ones. About a year and a half back, I read a few rather mediocre children’s books. I found myself thinking, “I can do that.” I started writing soon after.

“I let the words spill, then I bring a mop to the revision.” Sean, you’ve written some of my favorite words on the Net. Anyone can teach, few can inspire. You inspire others to experience life and reach for their dreams with your prose. Thanks for taking the leap of faith into the world of blogging. It’s not so scary once you get used to the water.

She weaves sarcasm, humor, solid advice, poignant personal experiences, and marketing genius into one big ball of blogging greatness. Naomi’s blog immediately caught my attention the very first time I visited, and I’ve been returning to her classroom daily since then. Her humor and honesty is refreshing. If you haven’t visited Itty Biz, stop in and prepare to laugh your way though some solid marketing teaching and street-smart advice.

Enough of my jabber, on to Naomi’s interview.

What writing habits do you practice daily?

Well, I blog between three and five days a week, and I’ve always got a couple of books on the go. At this point, most of my writing is what I’m professionally obligated to do. Not much time for Morning Pages anymore, although they were nice while the lasted.

What is your process for improving your writing?

If I feel like I’m starting to lose my voice, I read Dooce. Preferably the really old posts. Also Amalah and The Bloggess. If I feel like something sucks, I cut 35%. I read stuff out loud to make sure I’m not repeating words. (“Bunch”, “stuff”, “bazillion” and “shit” in every conceivable part of speech are big culprits.) I refuse to write when I’m tired because I’ve finally learned that whatever I come up with when I’m sleepy sucks and I have to redo it the next day anyway.

What books or blog posts have influenced the mechanics and heart of your writing the most?

Heart, yes. Mechanics, no. I have absolutely zero time for mechanics. If I die under the wheels of a bus tomorrow, I don’t want to have spent today worrying about my grammar.

There are the usual suspects – Writing Down the Bones, The Artist’s Way, Bird by Bird — but those are obvious. I really liked Making a Literary Life: Advice for Writers and Other Dreamers by Carolyn See. (No! A book about writing novels by a person who’s actually written novels? Say it ain’t so!)

Also, if you want to write fiction of any genre, there are two fantastic and totally underutilized resources that come to mind. JA Konrath’s website, and the community and lessons at eHarlequin.com. (Romance editors are vicious when it comes to things like characterization, so if you can learn to please them, you can pretty much please anyone.)

“If I die under the wheels of a bus tomorrow, I don’t want to have spent today worrying about my grammar.” That ’bout says it all.

Thanks Naomi for letting us pick your brain. You’ve given me enough information and resources to occupy my brain for the next month.

Up to bat next week is Leo Babauta, of Zen Habits. Mr. Babauta will provide us with his insight on how he improves his writing. You won’t want to miss it.

(Just a note, while the books listed in Naomi’s interview are linked to Amazon for your convenience, these are not affiliate links. Feel free to click away.)

Next up on the interviewee list is Charlie Pabst of Men with Pens/ Charfish Design.  Charlie recently joined the Pen Men and has been fairly quiet thus far. We’re not sure if he just can’t get a word in edgewise, or if he’s playing up the whole man of mystery thing.

Mr. Pabst is a self-taught web designer and writer with loads of style. He’s got a street-smart way about him and he fits in nicely with James and Harry. Charlie has a background in architecture, which brings an interesting and pleasantly unique style to his web designs. He also hails from Seattle, Washington and may find me on his doorstep some day if I get the time to travel to the West Coast. (If only JP Beaumont were a real person, I’d look him up, too!)

Charlie’s Responses

Charlie received the same three questions for the mini-interview, and these are his responses.
What writing habits do you practice daily?

My only real writing habit is to be sure I do it every single day. Not necessarily a blog post, or a story or even something remarkably literate, but something.

What is your process for improving your writing?

Part of it is just doing it and doing it and doing it. Another part of it is actually reading the things I write. Not in a critical fashion, but from the viewpoint of someone who may be reading my work for the first time. Being able to see your writing from another’s viewpoint is really important.

As a writer, when you put ideas down on paper, you do so with a concept in your mind already. I mean, you’re writing what you’ve already envisioned in your mind. Your readers don’t have that same concept. You, as the writer, have to GIVE it to them.

Some new writers I know have that problem and wonder, “Why don’t people get my writing? It seems so clear to me.” It’s much easier for us to understand what we’ve written ourselves.

Another thing I do is practice. I don’t like to be lazy with my writing. Say, if I’m just writing an email and I want to say something funny, I’ll purposely try to write something really funny. If I’m in a bad mood and writing a friend or associate, I’ll explain it in a way that’s more creative than just saying, “I’m grumpy.” Once you start practicing like this, it starts to feel like your repertoire is starting to grow. You’ll start to have more confidence that you can convey moods and ideas more successfully.

What books or blog posts have influenced the mechanics and heart of your writing the most?

One person I’ve learned from is Seth Godin. He’s got a very punchy style. His writing doesn’t have that, “I’m going to talk about this now. Now I’m talking about it,” sort of rigidness to it. He just gets right into stories and concepts, and he really makes it work. He’s my go-to guy for seeing how to make really succinct writing work, without losing your reader conceptually, as I brought up earlier.

Another is Nick Cernis of PutThingsOff.com. My interest in his writing is not with his choice of topics or subject matter. I just like his style. It’s loose, humorous and it often involves regional patois that, again, he just makes work.

Bill Bryson, who’s not a blogger as far as I know, is an incredible non-fiction essayist. He can write about anything and make it luscious, funny and vividly real. I feel like I know him personally just from the heart and honesty he puts into his writing. That honesty is something that is ultra-necessary, regardless of the type of writing you’re doing.

Honesty and heart make a writer’s work vividly real.  It sounds like those two qualities deserve active development and nurturing in writing if we want that lucidity and lusciousness that Charlie talks about.

Great responses, Charlie. Thanks for letting us pick your brain!

I am constantly looking to improve my writing, and have been struggling with attaining just the right amount of crisp, clean prose while maintaining punch and a flowing cadence. This is my ever-elusive goal. Frustrated by my bang-head-against-wall approach lately, I had a late night/early morning conversation with James Chartrand of Men with Pens yesterday about the issue. (I asked James for help because that’s kind of guy he is. He’s passionate about his profession, cares deeply for others, and is an all-around nice guy. But don’t spread it around that I said that!)

The Wheels Start to Turn

During our email conversation, I began thinking about what other professional writers do to evolve their writing. How do they achieve their writing goals? What motivates them to excel in their craft?

Harebrained Ideas Always Begin After Midnight

So late last night, I came up with a harebrained idea: I would interview top bloggers with distinctive writing styles that others emulate. Whom did I contact? Well, that’s the crazy part. I emailed bloggers like Sean Platt, Darren Rowse, Susan Johnston, Sonia Simone, Bob Younce, and Tom Chandler. Then, a crazy thing happened- they agreed to my interview! (I emailed a few other interesting surprise personalities, too!)

Let the Brain Picking Begin!

I am champing at the bit to read these exceptional writers’ answers! Keep an eye out in the next few days as the responses to my mini-interviews come in as the bloggers’ schedules allow. I will post them, unedited, giving you a chance to pick the brains of top bloggers in the online copywriting and freelance industries.

Does this sound like fun to you? If you would like to see responses from a particular blogging favorite, drop us a line and we’ll see what we can do!

Let the brain picking begin!