Okay, the headline is a bit misleading. The five step writing process Ayn Rand followed isn’t exactly a secret. Let’s remember that in addition to her legendary and mammoth novels “The Fountainhead” and “Atlas Shrugged,” she wrote the non fiction how to books “The Art of Fiction” and “The Art of Non Fiction,” which gave detailed accounts of her writing tactics and viewpoints.
Rand obviously had something going for her. She didn’t lack for productive firepower. Her two best known works, “The Fountainhead” and “Atlas Shrugged,” weighed in at 750 pages and 1,200 pages, respectively. In total, she authored more than 15 books and many more were written by others about her career. There is even an Irvine, Calif. based Ayn Rand Institute founded in her honor.
But here we boil down her best practices, her five step writing process.
The late, great novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand suggested five steps writers could follow to produce clear and compelling communication.
STEP ONE: Limit your subject. Rand advised writers to ask three questions at the start of any project. 1) What will I write about? Define the topic and be sure that you can cover it adequately within the parameters of the project. 2) What do I want to say about this subject? Determine the theme of your project the point of view that you want to communicate. 3) Is what I have to say new? If not, then don’t put pen to paper at all.
STEP TWO: Judge the audience. Most of us, and certainly all business writers, are writing to an audience. So, in order to write persuasively, we need to identify the characteristics of our intended audience.
STEP THREE: Create a plan of action. Like many experienced writers, Rand was a firm believer in the power of the outline and suggested two tests to measure an outline’s completeness. The first is the essence test: an outline is complete only when you can understand it as a unified whole. The second is the test of final causality. This test, which Rand adapted from Aristotelian philosophy, says that when your outline establishes and details a logical chain of cause and effect steps that lead to the established conclusion, it is complete.
STEP FOUR: Draft from the subconscious. Rand suggests that you write without stopping and, to the greatest extent possible, without consciously thinking out each sentence.
STEP FIVE: Edit objectively. Rand proposed a three level approach to editing. 1) Focus on the structure of the work. At this level, you need to ensure that it progresses logically and respects the reader’s intelligence. 2) Focus on clarity. Make sure the writing is communicating exactly what you intend it to. Rand says writing’s purpose is to communicate exactly what you intend it say. She warns writers to beware of “over condensing” (cramming too much into a sentence or paragraph) 3) Consider style. Her style tips include:
>> Don’t complicate a simple thought
>> The simpler the words the better
>> Don’t use sarcasm, pejorative adjectives or inappropriate humor
>> Don’t use bromides
>> Don’t use unnecessary synonyms.
Though the Russian American novelist, playwright and screenwriter passed from this world in 1982, her most popular books remain mainstays in bookstores across America. No bookstore of any size or seriousness would be without “The Fountainhead” and “Atlas Shrugged.” Her books, almost 30 years after her death, are expected to sell 2 million copies this year.
We would certainly do well to follow her advice.
Author Resource:-
Mike Consol is president of http://MikeConsol.com, which provides business writing seminars, PowerPoint presentation skills training, Web 2.0 strategies and media training. Consol spent 17 years with American City Business Journals, the nation's largest publisher of metropolitan business journals.
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