Paint the pictures of green
meadows on summer days
When dewdrops cascade across
the land
Paint a picture of far away
places and things unseen
When you can’t have them
close at hand
Paint the pictures of
everything you hold so dear
When all you feel inside are
empty memories
Paint a picture of all you
ever loved and learned
When colors blend together
in perfect artistry
I wrote that verse about three
years ago. It belongs with a complete
song entitled Paint A Picture, but I
felt it could stand alone from its whole text.
You might have thought it flows very well, or you actually painted a
picture in your mind, or else, you thought I was experiencing a momentary lapse
of reason behind the lectern. The song
actually talks about not giving up on your dreams and striving until the end,
but felt that that small portion would help me to open your minds to the things
I am about to tell you. Come with me,
now, on my journey through my writing process.
Whether I am writing a new lyric, or even a speech, I
like to think about it for a small amount of time, whether it is an hour, or a
few days, before writing my first words.
There has to be a natural progression, like a musician searching for the
right notes and chords, I first must find a beginning, middle and end –
sometimes I must find a bridge to fuse many thoughts together to appear as
one. Sometimes a chorus will come before
a verse, or visa versa.
One of the first things I do before I write down my
first words is shut off my stereo or TV.
I don’t like to hear words in the background because it’s very
distracting. All I need is a lawsuit
against me for plagiarizing someone else’s work. If I choose not to sit in total silence, I
like to listen to any one of many instrumental works from the artist, Mike
Oldfield – so I know there won’t be any words to bother me in the background.
Once all distractions are gone, I like to sit down in
front of my computer and think how I should open my song or speech. There has to be something there to catch the
listener’s ear, and if there isn’t, I’ve completely lost my audience.
As a writer and speaker, I tend to get hindered by the
use of too many common words. So, I make
use of the many tools available to me.
One of the tools I use, almost daily, is my
dictionary. If I’m not sure of the
correct meaning of a word, I look it up.
I want to be sure it fits in with the body of what I’m using the word
for. A good word can make a good speech.
If I’m dissatisfied, unhappy, unfulfilled, or
disappointed with the words I am using, I frequently use a thesaurus. It will not only give me a better edge in the
writing process, but also expand my mind to new words that mean the same as the
one I want to change. Challenging myself
to learn new words helps expand my vocabulary, which in turn helps me in my
writing.
One
last tool I use is my Random House Guide to Grammar, Usage, And Punctuation. When going through it, I thought I had gone
back to high school English. It helps me
with problems as when to use such words as affect (A–F–F–E–C–T) and effect (E–F–F–E–C–T),
or correct sentence structure, breakdown of proper comma usage, and how to use
correct sentence ending such as periods, exclamation points, etc.
I feel if I’m using interesting words, my listeners
are going to remember them, and hopefully use them. By expanding my own mind, I, in turn, give my
listeners an opportunity to learn along with me.
When I’m finished with the writing process, and I’ve
edited and rehearsed it and feel it flows in the direction I want it to head,
I’m ready for the performance of my life.
Now, this is where I make my point – everything I’ve thought –
everything I’ve written – and everything I’ve rehearsed – has to be strong and vivid.
Be it my IceBreaker,
or my Be In Earnest, or Vocal Variety, Tall Tale, etc. – my goal is to not only give the speech with
feeling, but give it with sincerity. I
don’t want to just recite for another’s enjoyment; I want to rehearse for a
role of a lifetime. I want to give my
speech in a way where my audience members are experience what I’m talking
about, not just hear it.
In other words – I’m showing you what I’m talking
about – not telling you what I’m talking about.
I give vivid descriptions and articulate my speech – letting the
audience experience what I’m talking about.
It’s my job to paint the picture for the audience – if I don’t – they
may not understand what my speech – I don’t want to lose them – I want to
capture them and their imaginations.
Lyricist, Neil Peart writes a good example I can use,
from the song "Losing It".
Instead of him saying a writer has writer’s block in his old age, he puts
pictures in your mind by saying:
The writer stare with glassy
eyes —
Defies the empty page,
His beard is white, his face
is lined
And streaked with tears of
rage
Thirty years ago, how the
words would flow
With passion and precision,
But now his mind is dark and
dulled
By sickness and indecision
And he stares out the
kitchen door
Where the sun will rise no
more…
I give my lyrics and speeches lives of their own. I write with conviction. Using metaphors to get my point across if I
have to. The more of me that I put into
it, the more I’ll appreciate it, and the more my audience will appreciate it. Also, by giving it a life of its own, it has
to be able to stand alone on paper.
Before I read it to my mentor, I find a non-Toastmaster or good friend
to read my speech for input on the writing.
If he or she likes it, my mentor will like it when I read it to her for
the first time.
Just remember fellow Toastmasters – think about what
you want to write about. Choose your
words carefully. Fine-tune it to work
out all of the bugs. Make it flow with
conviction and pride. Rehearse. And most of all – make sure it’s written in a
way that your audience is transported into your speech and not just floating on
the surface. You want them to feel
everything you’ve said. If they feel it,
they’ll remember it. So remember – you’re not behind the lectern
giving a speech – you’re behind the lectern making memories.
