It’s been 4 years since – sadly – Gerald M. “Jerry” Weinberg handed away. Ever since then, I struggled with some public mourning about him, till just lately I had simply the appropriate thought. On a weekly foundation, I’ll publish a overview of a e book I learn that Jerry both wrote himself or is about a few of his work. With not so many books from Jerry left on my shelf, I picked Weinberg on Writing – The Fieldstone Method, revealed by Dorset House in 2006.
As the title notes, Jerry wrote over 40 books in his profession, spanning not less than from 1958, up till his demise in 2018. So, when such an achieved creator writes a e book about writing, it’s a must-read within the case are contemplating writing by yourself.
I recall how Jerry made early on a distinguishment between an creator and a author, however I can’t discover that reference within the e book’s index. So it’d as properly have been a weblog entry he revealed on one among his blogs on the time. Basically, an creator may very well be a one-time contributor to a e book or an article, whereas a author makes a residing from his writing work.
The subtitle of his e book could be defined quite merely, and Jerry affords his rationalization from the get-go. A fieldstone wall is constructed with stones mendacity round within the wild. These usually are not completely formed. So, if you wish to construct one thing like a wall out of fieldstones, you want to craft them into your wall by searching for alternatives the place they slot in.
Of course, that is an analogy. Over the years, I discovered myself re-using a few of my earlier writings. Mostly, it’s not the entire earlier piece that I reuse, however simply parts of it. For instance, the Satir Change mannequin may very well be one, the Lean Change cycle, one other one, and so forth. For the piece at hand, I have to make the totally different fieldstones fall collectively of their locations to kind a factor of magnificence for the reader to get pleasure from.
Jerry has plenty of recommendations on the best way to arrange your writing, overcome author’s block, and the best way to strengthen your writing muscle by exercising it via each day writing – one thing I picked up on once more in late August right here on my weblog as properly.
Yet, a very powerful lesson on writing is obtainable proper within the first chapter of this e book:
Never try to put in writing one thing you don’t care about.
Writing Lesson Number One, web page 6, Weinberg on Writing
Over the years, I’ve violated this primary lesson in my writing and paid the worth for it. Don’t do it. Jerry is true. Read the e book when you attempt to pursue changing into higher at writing.
Some private gems
During my attendance on the Problem-solving management course again in 2011, I requested Jerry to signal my copy of the e book.
When I co-facilitated the black-box software program testing programs from Cem Kaner via the Association for Software Testing, the instructors had a wiki with totally different templates that had been accomplished and despatched out to the members. These templates had been extremely motivated by this e book, thus known as fieldstones.
Personally, I exploit fieldstones in a special method. Rather than utilizing templates for my articles, weblog posts, and the like, I organized my articles in order that I can simply discover previous content material, and possibly re-write the parts round a specific idea to suit into the fieldstone wall that’s the present article that I’m engaged on. Thus far, that works properly for me. I worry there is perhaps some extent when my reminiscence will cease working like this.