Category: Working Together

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Actively Listening Can Enhance Your Writing

In my opinion, learning to actively listen can make us a better writer. Let’s look into it.

In her book, Listening: Its Impact at All Levels on Reading and Other Language Arts (1979), Sara Lundsteen said, “Listening is the foundation for speaking, which is the foundation for reading, which is the foundation for writing.” She taught that since listening is a foundation for writing, active listening can further enhance the author’s writing. I want to follow up on that.

Actively listening to others – rather than passively listening, or interrupting – can increase our vocabulary. An increased vocabulary allows us to give people in our stories a wider range of expression.

Actively listening to others can teach us how others think. Learning how others think allows us to create a greater number of characters, with wider intellectual capacity, and more complex personality. That, in turn, can give us the potential for a more complex and a much more interesting story.

But actively listening also helps us personally. I found that when I learned how to actively listen, without interrupting, I began interacting on a more mature level, and people began asking for my thoughts and opinions. By listening, I gained a broader audience and became a better writer.

Listening will help you too, and help you to …

Write Creatively.

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Working Together

I was sitting in my office in Lemon Grove, California, looking out the window. I was waiting for the next person I was going to interview, and watching for the next trolley to rush past. I had about 10 minutes and was also wondering what my next article would be about.

About that time, the trolley came barreling past. If they don’t stop for passengers, they are going 45-50 miles per hour here. During the weekend, only 2 cars run in tandem, but during the week, 3 cars run together. I walked outside to take this photo.

I began wondering about which one is either pulling or pushing, but then I observed the power system. Each car was receiving its own power from the electric cables above the cars. I suddenly realized that each car – the 3 of them connected together – was pulling its own load. And I had to write about it!

I tell you, inspiration happens in the most unusual ways and at the most interesting times. Always try to be alert as you go about your day, and capture those fleeting thoughts, those inspirations that rush by like the trolley cars. Even though connected together, each car was pulling its own load.

In like manner, each writer must make his or her own progress, but we at P&L Publishing & Literary Services can connect with you and assist you in your pursuit of publishing your book. We can take the complexity out of the process and make your pursuit of excellence easier.

Feel free to connect with us at https://plpubandlit.org/ and click on Formatting Services for more information.