Writing Tips From One of the Greats

January 23, 2025

C.S. Lewis is one of my all-time favorite authors. While I enjoy the Chronicles of Narnia, I prefer his works on spirituality and religion. He has a way with analogies and alliteration that resonates with me. I recently came across this letter he wrote advising a young girl about how to write well and it's too good not to share. Number 6 is one I hadn't considered. I often scrap writing I'm dissatisfied with altogether but perhaps I should store it for later.

The other tips I believe are of utmost importance are numbers 5 and 8, which in my mind go together. I often get hung up on words as I tend to take things a bit literally. So in my writing, I spend time researching all possible meanings and implications of a word or phrase I'm not certain I already understand. Even so, how a word was originally defined may not be how it's commonly used now, so that must also be considered. Having a vision for a piece is different than being able to communicate that vision. Sometimes, no matter how well I write something I am sure it is understood in a way that is different than what I intended. However, doing my utmost to try and convey my story or ideas as clearly as possible will always be a worthwhile endeavor.

REFERENCES

Dorsett, L. W., & Mead, M. L.: (Eds.). (1985). C. S. Lewis: Letters to Children. New York: Touchstone.