Turn off the Radio

Writing Advice, Courtesy of C. S. Lewis

I recently came across this letter from C. S. Lewis in which he attempted to give some general writing advice to an American schoolgirl, and as a writer myself, it resonated instantly, so much so that I felt compelled to offer my own two cents on it, point by point:

1. “Turn off the radio.”

The first point wastes no time getting to the point. “Turn off the radio”—that is to say, turn off the noise. We live in a day and age with an abundance—an over-abundance—of noise. Radio was just the beginning. Now, and since then, it’s TV, podcasts, social media, and the list goes on. Ears listening, eyes watching, fingers twitching—it’s a never-ending loop for many people. None of these things are inherently bad, but if you want to be a serious writer, you must be aware of the noise in your life. Noise is not just what enters our ears but what occupies our minds. And an occupied mind fixed on consumption is strangled of its ability for creation. Ironically, an ever-increasing abundance of noise can essentially occupy us into a state of hearing nothing, seeing nothing, and ultimately doing nothing. Turn off the radio, yes, but for today’s writers: Turn off the phone.

2. “Read all the good books you can, and avoid nearly all magazines.”

Speaking of consumption, in order for a glass to be poured out, it must first be filled up. So consumption, again, is not inherently bad in and of itself; in fact, it’s a necessity because good writing is downstream of good reading—but the key word here is “good.” Just like it’s okay to have a piece of cake from time to time, it’s okay to read a tabloid in the waiting room of the doctor’s office every once in a while. It becomes a problem when you’re consuming that sort of mental junk food on a regular basis; your mind will suffer from it and, in turn, your writing too. Therefore, read all the good books you can, old or new, yet with a bias towards the old, for such books have stood the test of time for reasons worth discovering. Slowly but surely you will be filling up your mental well as it quietly waits to be drawn from for when your mind thirsts for something new.

3. “Always write (and read) with the ear, not the eye. You should hear every sentence you write as if it was being read aloud or spoken. If it does not sound nice, try again.”

You should, in my opinion, not just hear every sentence you write as if it was being read aloud but by actually being read aloud. For our minds are often able to glide over bumps which our lips cannot so easily manage, and you cannot smooth out what you cannot hear. Not to mention that words find their natural end and original power in speech, for God did not write “light” into existence—He spoke it, and there it was. So, formulate your words in your head, put them down on paper, but then test them out in the open air where they are most alive to make sure they have retained their vital nature.

4. “Write about what really interests you, whether it is real things or imaginary things, and nothing else. (Notice this means that if you are interested only in writing you will never be a writer, because you will have nothing to write about...)”

I’ve said before that the writer seeks only to be writing while the author wrote merely to have written. For the true writer, writing is not an end in itself but a means to an end greater than itself. For the true writer, writing is not a noun but a verb. And in order to write, to truly write, you have to have something to write about, and that something needs to grab you; otherwise, it will lose you before you’ve even had time to put pen to paper.

5. “Take great pains to be clear. Remember that though you start by knowing what you mean, the reader doesn't, and a single ill-chosen word may lead him to a total misunderstanding. In a story it is terribly easy just to forget that you have not told the reader something that he wants to know—the whole picture is so clear in your own mind that you forget that it isn't the same in his.”

“A single ill-chosen word”—a single ill-chosen punctuation mark even, I would add, may lead your reader to a total misunderstanding. Clarity is king, and it is achieved by being intentional down to the smallest of strokes. Brevity or verbosity, commas or colons—neither such things are good or bad, right or wrong—each have their place. For there is but one rule in grammar: Don’t confuse your reader. Anything beyond this is pedantry.

6. “When you give up a bit of work don't (unless it is hopelessly bad) throw it away. Put it in a drawer. It may come in useful later. Much of my best work, or what I think my best, is the rewriting of things begun and abandoned years earlier.”

This is important, because I’ve found that I rarely forget what I want to say but rather how I want to say it. Having a vague thought or a faint notion is an everyday thing for everyday people, but the job of a writer is to put into words what people have been thinking all along but could never quite articulate themselves. So when you’ve managed to have a moment of especial clarity, your job is to capture it and keep it. Put it in a drawer or put it in a note on your phone, either way, just put it down somewhere. It may still need to be rewritten, but the real meat of it will be there to work with. And this is also a reminder that good writing can take time, even years of time. But when you’re creating something intended to last, you can afford to take your time.

7. “Don't use a typewriter. The noise will destroy your sense of rhythm, which still needs years of training.”

I don’t actually know what typing on a typewriter is like, so I can’t speak to this one too much (and I’ve no issue with typing on the computer), but what I will say is that there is something about writing by hand that makes me think every writer should incorporate it into their writing in at least some small and regular way.

8. “Be sure you know the meaning (or meanings) of every word you use.”

Writers have been called “wordsmiths,” and my advice is to start acting like one. Words are your metal, the raw material of your craft. And a skilled craftsman must be intimately familiar with the material in his hands in order that he does not mangle his creation. Therefore, make the dictionary your friend and the thesaurus your companion—multiple dictionaries, multiple thesauruses. If, after referencing multiple dictionaries, you still don’t quite understand a word or if, after referencing multiple thesauruses, you still can’t quite choose between two similar words, study the etymology. For etymology takes you from merely knowing the meaning (or meanings) of a word to truly understanding it, and understanding will always provide a better footing for the writing at hand.

Thanks for reading till the end. Interested in reading more from me? If so, you can check out my book, The End of Wisdom, below: