Basketball: Post 2500, Focus On Writing, On Stories, On Learning

"Life isn’t a support-system for art. It’s the other way around." - Stephen King

Tell better stories. Because this is post 2500, I'm writing about writing. If one wants "definitive" writing advice, read Stephen King's masterpiece "On Writing" or Anne Lamott's "Bird by Bird." Educators own teaching students to think and communicate clearly. 

King hates adverbs. Use powerful verbs. He's good with small words. Lamott says first drafts are crap. It's okay. Stephen King says write the first draft with the door closed and the second with the door open (to receive criticism). 

Writers share our 'take'.  Sharing opinions invites criticism. That's okay. I like licorice, but I won't seek converts. Matters of taste - dribble drive, spread, Princeton, sets - are matters of taste...and personnel. 

Most stories have a beginning, a middle, and an end. For example, what was the last thing George Washington told his men before crossing the Delaware? <Pause> "Get in the boat." 

Use humor, pathos, surprise. 

A father confronted his son asking whether the boy had turned over the outhouse. The son denied it. The father pressed him. "Remember, George Washington admitted chopping down the cherry tree." The son relented, "Okay, Dad, I did." The father replied, "Well, George's father wasn't sitting in the cherry tree." 

Use rhetorical tools - like alliteration (our high school team was the Cardiac Kids), diacope, A-B-A form (Bond, James Bond), and chiasmus, word reversal ("Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.")

Investigative journalist Bob Woodward says his job is "to find the best version of the truth." His column unearths at least six discoveries for readers. I like that rule. One of the reasons I highlight sections is verifying six. 

The DaVinci Code author Dan Brown says, "the difference between good writers and bad writers is that good writers know when they're bad." He advises "raising the stakes" including the use of a ticking clock. In effect, he argues for the shot clock! 

Where do ideas come from? There's no idea taco truck. Ask questions. Why? Am I wrong? Check the facts. 

Ernest Hemingway reminds us, "There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed." 

Lagniappe. 

Seven Tips for Writers (from Salman Rushdie) and Coaches...

1. Choose minimalism (one hair from the goddess of literature) or maximalism (personal choice)
2. Plan versus improvise (Control) 
3. Have passion for writing (coaching/playing) 
4. Take risks ("the great matador works closest to the bull")
5. Be committed. (Do the work) 
6. Discard what is not working! (Overcome the desire to fix big problems)
7. Finish. "Get to the end." (A finished product is easier to evaluate.) 

Lagniappe 2. Jokic. YouTube. Breakdown. Don't miss it. 

Lagniappe 3. The future is now... Temporal occlusion training interrupts a play sequence and asks athletes to forecast the action or decision. 

Lagniappe 4. The 10,000 hours to expertise is a myth. Need proof? 

Yes, there is a learning curve but it's not 10,000 hours for many skills. 

1. Mentoring is the only true shortcut to mastery (we are mentors).

2. Focus, overcoming emotional constraints (I can't do this), matters.

3. BEEP! 

• Break down the skill into parts. 
• Edit our errors. 
• Eliminate distractions (put down the phone).
• Practice.

Thanks for reading!