When I started writing, I daydreamed every day. Before the article was finished, I began to fantasize about how many praises I could receive and how many fans I could increase after publication. I always feel that tens of thousands of dollars a month are already waving to me. However, daydreaming is really just fantasy, and reality has given me a head-on blow. Few people read my articles, and my contributions are always rejected, and my likes and fans are few. I thought about giving up, but I persisted. Then I began to spend a lot of time learning writing, read several books on writing skills and took some writing classes. The fact is, I still can't write a good article.
After a detour, I finally realized some experience and finally understood why other people's articles with the same structure and views are better than mine. The reason is that my accumulation is too little, and my articles lack depth and height.
There are two indicators that affect the reading volume of articles: the opening rate and the forwarding rate. The opening rate depends on good titles, and the forwarding rate depends on high-quality content. Where does high-quality content come from? I think it should be after accumulating a lot of information that I can quote classics and then write a wonderful stroke. Good materials are to an article what condiments are to food. If used properly, it can not only add icing on the cake, but also make people memorable.
So how do you accumulate writing materials? After a period of exploration and practice, I found a set of useful methods.
First, where did the materials come from?
1, books, magazines, newspapers
Mr Jiang Yang once said: Young man, your problem is that you think too much and read too little. Reading is the basis of writing, and only continuous input can ensure high-quality output. We are all young and have limited experience, but we can extend our experience and knowledge by reading. Isn't reading a book an experience of living with the author?
However, we also have to face the problem that our memory gradually declines with age. Except for a few fragments that touched us deeply, the rest were basically forgotten after reading them. Here are some good ways to accumulate material from reading.
? Tricolor note
I think it is the habit of most people to take notes when reading, but fewer people can use three-color notes. This method was mentioned in Jun Chunyi's original book Efficient Reading, and he suggested that we should use three-color notes to mark when reading:
Red post-it notes: places that the author intends to emphasize; And is positioned as part of the curriculum. Blue Post-it Notes: You can start writing the theme for the enlightening part. Yellow sticky notes: places worthy of reference in the expression of words, or the original text to be extracted when writing book reviews.
On the basis of the original spring, combined with my practical application, I made some minor adjustments, and it is still three colors, each color represents a type of material: red notes-thoughts, blue notes-golden sentences, yellow notes-wonderful examples. This has two advantages: it is convenient to take notes and look them up quickly when needed in the future.
? take notes
Needless to say, we are all familiar with the saying that a good memory is better than a bad written memory. In addition to traditional paper notes, you can also record them in Douban note area and cloud notes.
Anatomical reading method
The so-called anatomical reading method is to cut the read book into pieces and put it in a folder. For books, I don't want to do this. This method is mostly used in newspapers and magazines.
Open the book and help RIA put up post-it notes.
Wen Xin said: composition materials are everywhere, not only in books, but also in learning words from books, even if they are well learned. Reading is new, and writing is new. The most important thing is the kung fu, that is, to realize other things from one thing, and to connect a sentence or an idea in a book with something in other books or something in life can prove this sentence. This trigger is the best writing material, fresh and full of "emotion".
It is really important to trigger and think about reading, because from the day we read, we only see the world through other people's eyes, without our own thinking, and what we have learned from books is a cliche. However, it is difficult for many people to think deeply and actively when reading. Recently, it is found that the method of opening books to help RIA post-it notes can effectively make readers think positively.
Reading is divided into: R (original fragment), I (retelling knowledge in your own words), A 1 (describing your own relevant experience) and A2 (how to apply it in the future).
★R: When reading, you encounter a heartbeat fragment and stop to draw.
★I: Retell the original knowledge in your own words to understand the knowledge itself, write it down and post it on the corresponding page.
★A 1: Review whether you have experienced or seen similar things and situations, so that this knowledge is really relevant to you.
★A2: Combine what you have read (opinions/suggestions/inspirations) with your own experience and imagine how you will use it in the future.
In these four steps, A 1 post-it notes is a process of positive thinking and triggering reading, and these experiences and reflections are the best materials for writing.
2. Various new media platforms
Nowadays, various new media platforms emerge one after another, such as WeChat, Weibo, Douban, Jane Books and various listening apps. These platforms publish many good articles every day, and these good articles are also our main source of material.
Wechat subscription
I just turned on my cell phone and looked at it. I have paid attention to dozens of WeChat subscription numbers, two-thirds of which maintain daily frequency and update more than one article every day. Faced with such a large amount of information, material collection is also skillful: you must first determine your writing orientation before you can collect materials in a targeted manner. For example, now that I pay attention to self-growth, I will pay more attention to this kind of subscription number. If there are books, workplace charging treasures, etc. I will read the articles pushed every day. If there are good articles, I will collect them and label them. When I have enough time, I will comb them again. There may be some articles that I am particularly moved by a certain sentence or a certain paragraph, so such articles will not be accepted. Just take a screenshot of the touched place on the mobile phone or copy it directly to the cloud note for saving.
A simple book
There are also many good articles in the simplified books, and the simplified books have a useful tool-special topics. I have built some special topics myself, and classified good articles into special topics, so it is convenient to find them when I need to refer to them in the future.
Almost know
Zhihu is a question-and-answer platform. You can search for questions according to the information you need, and you can see many excellent high-quality answers. You can also find many different viewpoints from some questions with a lot of answers, which can not only search for materials, but also expand your thinking.
Listening to books APP
There are many books-listening apps, such as Get, You Shu, Himalaya, etc. Their storytelling manuscripts are of very high quality. Of course, because they are storytelling, we can also get the ideas in the storytelling draft by reading books, but a storytelling draft usually comes with multiple cases, which is a good channel to collect case materials.
Step 3 observe life
All writing materials come from life. Wen Xin says that a successful novel is the truest story in the world, although it is not a record of something.
"Becoming a Writer" also said: "The real genius has an inexhaustible source, which is one reason. Everything that happens in his life can be used by him. "
The reason why we can't write an article is because we observe too little and are indifferent to the "small things" that happen around us. It seems that only memorabilia can enter our eyes and trigger emotions. Because we have lost our curiosity about the outside world, nothing can attract you and arouse your desire to express. How can I write a good article?
The insights and examples gained from life are the best fresh materials in our writing. How to collect this material? You can take a notebook with you, use a mobile phone memo or notes, and record your feelings in life at will; If it's convenient, you can also record it by voice, saving time and effort, and then sort it out. You can also keep a diary every day to record the experience and feelings of the day. If you write too much, you will find that the diary has also become a treasure trove of your materials.
Step 4 go to the movies
Watching movies is also a good way to broaden your experience. Classic lines, story lines and values output in high-scoring movies are all sources of writing materials. The use of such materials can easily resonate with readers. After all, few people don't watch movies.
Second, how to organize the material is more practical?
When I first bought Kindel, I frantically collected free e-book resources through various channels and spent a few dollars on Taobao to buy some G books. However, until now, I haven't sorted out these e-books, and they are still lying in a mess on the network disk. Honestly, I don't know which e-books are genuine and which are pirated. I seldom find e-books from the network disk, for fear that the typesetting is too messy. This is the result of the disorderly release of resources, and so is our material accumulation. Without careful arrangement, the process of accumulating materials is just a waste of time. When I want to use it, I always feel that I have deja vu material, but I just can't find it.
1, selection of storage tools
The choice of material storage tools is a headache, and I have taken many detours on it. At first, I used a paper notebook to take notes, but two factors made me unable to persist. First, getting used to typing and copying is really painful. Second, paper notes are hard to find. I have also tried to store information in computer folders, and copying and searching are no longer a problem. However, a new problem has emerged. I don't always write at home, and I can't find material when I write in a company or a coffee shop.
Through personal practice, I recommend using cloud notes as a tool to organize materials. First, cloud notes are searchable and easy to find. Second, cloud notes can be synchronized. As long as the APP is installed, our materials can be opened on any electronic device, and the materials arranged anytime and anywhere can be displayed simultaneously on other devices.
There are two cloud notes I am using: Impression Notes and Daoyun Notes. I don't use evernote very much because I'm not used to its folder function. Its folder can't be divided into multiple layers, only two layers. Although the tag search function is very powerful, it is really unbearable for people with obsessive-compulsive disorder, and it can only be online on two devices at the same time. But it has another advantage, that is, it can directly import articles from WeChat, Jane books and listening platforms. Because of this function, I keep my evernote temporarily.
There is a saying that notes are really useful. I like them. Its folders can be hierarchical, as detailed as you like, and the search function is also very powerful, so that multiple devices can be online at the same time. In a word, notes have become the main battlefield for me to collect materials.
2. Material classification
Everyone has seen Li Ao's anatomy reading method: all the books he finished were torn to pieces by him, and all the useful materials were cut out and put away in different categories. He said: I don't remember the information I collected from memory. I hooked it up with patience for details and put it in the data folder. My memory only needs to remember these titles.
Therefore, when sorting out materials, the finer the classification, the tighter the materials can be hooked. Through writing practice, I think the material should be divided into at least three levels. The first level is a large positioning classification, such as psychology, history and humanities, and self-growth. The second level is the intermediate category, which can be divided into self-discipline, reading, time management and so on. The third level is a branch of the second level, which can be divided into these categories: title, viewpoint, golden sentence, inspiration, case, book list and high-quality article reference.
? My material classification
As long as we build folders according to these categories and fill up the materials, we can build a powerful material library.
Jim Collins mentioned a concept called flywheel effect in From Excellence to Excellence. He said: Imagine a flywheel. When you start pushing it, you need to spend a lot of effort. But slowly, every time you push, the energy you spend will be converted into the energy of the flywheel, making it rotate faster than the previous one. Finally, it will turn on its own, and the faster it turns, the more you don't have to push it. Writing is the same, it is difficult at first, and it takes a lot of effort to accumulate materials, but you have to believe that this is a process of quantitative change leading to qualitative change. When you have accumulated enough materials and a lot of writing exercises, you can also write a good article at one go with the help of God.
Finally, I encourage you with Hemingway's classic quotations: true nobility is not superior to others, but to yourself in the past. Do a good job of accumulation every day, there is no need to be impatient, what should come will always come.