1831 To all of you great writers/dancers
Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2003 09:19:42 -0500
From: donnayn <donnayn@DONNAY.NET>
Subject: To all of you great writers/dancers
Now I know why the Tango-L is so fun to read!
Lois from Minnesota
From todays Minneapolis Star Tribune:
Wilbers: Dancing can be good for your writing
Published September 26, 2003
WRIT26
I've been teaching writing for more than 30 years, but only recently
have I discovered the perfect analogy: dancing. To give written
expression to your thoughts is to move to the rhythm of your language.
Why it has taken me so long to recognize the obvious, I don't know. I've
been dancing since junior high.
But that was freestyle. In the past year I have begun taking lessons --
in ballroom, rhythm, swing, Lindy, the whole deal -- and now, instead of
just making things up, I've learned to step and turn with a partner
according to certain prescribed patterns.
Partner dancing involves learning to operate within a set of rules. It's
a lot like writing. The ultimate challenge is not just learning the
conventions but figuring out how to work within them in a way that
conveys your individuality.
Dancing and writing share these characteristics:
Discipline. Both require concentration and sustained effort.
Competence is achieved only over time. The more capable you become, the
more you realize how little you know and how much there is to learn.
The need for practice. To learn to do an outside turn or to create an
emphatic pause with a colon is just the first step. You must practice
each move until you can do it so automatically that you are free to
concentrate on your partner or your reader.
Satisfaction. Learning how to rise and fall in a waltz, or how to
follow a series of long introductory elements with a short, snappy main
clause in a periodic sentence, doesn't just happen. It requires time and
effort. To finally get it right is especially gratifying.
Basics vs. technique. Beginning dancers tend to concentrate on
footwork and neglect technique. Beginning writers think once they've
taken freshman composition there's nothing more to learn.
Footwork. Beginning dancers tend to look at their feet rather than at
their partners or over their partners' shoulders. Beginning writers tend
to concentrate on what's going on inside their heads rather than what
their readers need to know.
Posture and frame. The way dancers hold their bodies and the care with
which writers create a context for their message determine how clearly
intent is communicated, accepted and responded to.
Flexibility. You can't dance beautifully if you never stretch; you
can't write fluently if you never read.
Rhythm. Most dancers and writers can hear the beat. Only a very few
never learn how to keep time.
Relationship. The goal in dancing is to make your partner look
beautiful. The goal in writing is to make your reader feel good, or at
least to recognize your reader's point of view.
Attentiveness. Being aware of how you move your body and listening to
the music of your language make you more attentive to how you present
yourself to others. Paying attention to movement and rhythm leads to
taking more care in your presentation.
Manners. You can't be a good dancer or an effective writer without
thinking about how you are coming across to your partner or reader. Good
dancers and good writers have good manners.
Minneapolis consultant Stephen Wilbers offers training seminars in
effective business writing. Write to him at P.O. Box 19114, Minneapolis,
MN 55419, or send e-mail to <mailto:wilbe004@umn.edu>
wilbe004@umn.edu.You can visit his Web page at <https://www.wilbers>
https://www.wilbers.com.
