Writing Is More Than Writing

Understanding the Writing Section of My Authorship Map

From confusion to clarity with a map

Clear the confusion cluttering my brain. That’s what I was doing when I created my Authorship Map. I first wrote about my system and posted that blog on Medium on April 4, 2024.

Many writers also feel overwhelmed by an authorship career.

 I know that feeling all too well, and that’s why I created my authorship map.

There are many demands beyond the actual act of writing. I’ve separated the parts of an authorship career into three: writing, interiority, and business.

 A written story depends on the act of writing, whether by pen and paper, typing, or dictation. But that is only one aspect of writing.

Writing is not only writing

Today, I’m going to talk about the writing section, one of the three parts to the Authorship Map.

The part called writing contains several sub-categories:

·       Think

·       Research

·       Read

·       Write

·       Edit

The first three sub-categories show us that the actual act of writing requires more than writing.

 Yes—without the written word, there is no poem, or story, or book. And without these subcategories, it is rare to have a written word.

 This section includes editing because that’s what transforms and polishes the work we create. 

 • Think—ideas and imagination. Figure out what to write and what type of story it is. Thinking is the first step to writing. You can’t write something if you’ve never thought of it, even if you write as you think. Come to think of it, you think for seconds or microseconds before you capture those thoughts by writing, typing, or dictating.

This portion of the authorship map reminds you that you need unfiltered time to think and let ideas flow through.

 • Research—information, location, and settings for your work in progress (WIP). Research can mean reviewing the notes you’ve taken or looking for articles, papers, and science to support what you write.

 • Read—for pleasure, to learn, to get inspired. All of us read daily because we read instructions or signs. We read notes, textbooks, and storybooks, to name a few.

 • Write—for yourself or for others. Writing is easier after I’ve read, researched, and thought about a topic.

In decades past, I would type out my documents on a typewriter. Then I took those pages and literally cut and pasted the hard copy into an order that made coherent sense. I was doing cut and paste long before I ever had a computer, but I digress. 

  • Edit—includes self-editing and professional editing. Edit is part of the entire writing process. When we edit, we rewrite, rearrange, and renew our thoughts.

 These elements make up the section called writing. Now we’ll turn to consider the act of writing and the craft of writing.

The act of writing and capturing it

The act of writing—pen to paper, for example—is different from the craft of writing, which I’ll discuss later.

 In the act of writing, one takes the ideas and words from one’s brain and places them onto the paper or computer.

 There are many ways to capture those ideas and words.

 The easiest way I capture what my muse imagines is by writing it down on small pieces of paper. You can read more about it in my journal.

I enjoy having ideas flow from my brain, through my arm, and out my fingers onto the page. My hand races to keep up with my head. It’s my real-life version of how I capture my muse’s creativity. 

Another way to record your ideas is to use modern technology. For example, you could email yourself a note, use the Scrivener writing program, or engage with the notes app created by Medium for writers.   

With so many ways to capture ideas, you’ll have to experiment to find what works for you.

I’m pleasantly surprised that the system I developed to catch my inspired thoughts is similar to a virtual system component. It’s an app Medium designed for writers to capture writing in notes.

 Even though I had no input into that app’s development, some elements of it are a digital version of what I do with my analog system. Medium released this in 2026. I wrote about my system and posted the blog on Medium on Oct 22, 2024.

 It’s so much fun to see my system inside an app that others have produced!

 It goes to show that writers have many ways to capture notes of inspiration and creativity.

 That covers the act of writing. Now let’s look at the craft of writing.

The craft of writing

As I indicated earlier, writing can be divided into two parts, which cover the act and the craft.

 What I designed is not meant to cover the craft of writing itself. There are so many writing coaches who understand this process and help writers. I’ve included some of them in my upcoming book called Keep Creating!

This map is a powerful at-a-glance map that shows you how much time you dedicate to each section and its subcategories. It is not for learning the craft of writing.

A future post will work through the interiority of this map. It’s an area that I’ve been working on for decades. It underpins both the writing and the business aspects of my authorship map.

A map and a compass

You can also use this authorship map as a compass to guide you through different parts of an authorship career.

I use it to help me identify the tasks needed to build my authorship career. It can help you too.

Using this map like a compass helps me focus on the tasks I need to do. It’s easy to see the tasks I avoid, the areas where I spend too much time, and the tasks I need to do.

Use this map as a compass, and it will help you too.

Taking away the overwhelm and giving you clarity from the chaos of confusion is my gift to you.

 In Summary

This piece on writing left out the juicy bits of interiority, which I will discuss next time. It’s deliberate because writing is an action authors take to turn a nebulous idea into a tangible product. 

Watch future blogs and journal posts for explanations of the other two sections in my authorship map: interiority and business.

View this Authorship Map both as a system and as a compass.

 As a map, it shows you the entire landscape of an authorship career.

 As a compass, it helps you decide where to focus within that landscape. It guides you, the author, as you traverse your authorship career.

 Use it to see the different points of interest and the direction you need to go.

 This Authorship Map and Compass guide you to your best author self.