In Kill Bill 2 there’s a scene where Beatrix (the heroine) is thinking about the first time she met her kung fu master Pei Mai.
In his best “westernized women are trash” tone, Pei Mai asks Beatrix what forms of martial arts she’s good at. She says that she’s proficient in blah, blah, blah… proficient in blah, blah, blah… and more than proficient in blah, blah, blah.
Her so-called proficiency is soon put to the test, where we see Pei Mai barely lift a finger to defeat Beatrix.
Through her angry tears (and Pei Mai grasping her arm, nearly ripping it off) she concedes that she has a lot to learn.
The moral of this piece of the story?
Proficiency Sucks
When expert status (Pei Mai) was pitted against proficiency (Beatrix), proficiency got a first-class, no-nonsense thrashing.
And that brings me to the message of this post.
In the world of writing, most of us are proficient. I’m a proficient writer. I know I could be better. But proficiency has helped me sell a lot of ebooks, so why rock the boat, right?
Rock the boat because proficiency can become a danger to yourself in the big scheme of things.
Okay breathe that one in for a moment…
Proficiency is okay if you’re a government drone with a pension and 15 years under your belt. But will it always serve US well? Forever and ever, amen???
My proficiency (knock on wood) works to my advantage right now. But what if I could blink and have all the necessary words jump directly from my brain onto the monitor with barely any mental interruption? My skills would then give me a leg up over proficient writers.
Which leads me to a comment I read by Catherine Franz on Amazon.com. She was reviewing Word Work: Surviving and Thriving as a Writer, when she said:
“One of my goals is to read every book on writing.”
I was actually stunned when I read that statement. I got up, walked away from the computer and thought about the breadth of it. My heart was actually pounding.
It’s kind of like Beatrix training with Pei Mai to become a super warrior. (Which – by the way – we later discover saves her life, and helps her to defeat Bill.)
It’s an incredible tactic from a writers perspective. I can’t even fathom how much better I’d be as a writer if I took the time to read every single writing book there is. How much faster I could write. How much more creative I’d become over time.
As a writer I can see a goal like that changing the very essence of who I am.
That’s why I’ve stolen Catherine’s idea. (Though I’m sure she won’t mind.) I too am on the path to reading every writing book available.
And I propose a challenge to you… are you ready to change your proficient ways?
Are you prepared to know all that is, so that you can become one who truly knows?
Don’t decide now.
Just think about it.
March 5th, 2008 at 4:30 am
I found your site on technorati and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you.
Chris Moran
March 5th, 2008 at 7:57 am
As Tom Peters would put it - Excellence!! Always!! Nothing Less!!
March 5th, 2008 at 10:54 am
@ Chris… Thanks for joining me.
@ Reinis… Thank you (she says genuflecting graciously).
March 5th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
As usual Alexis, your way of skillfully looking at what is often obvious from a different angle is refreshing.
March 5th, 2008 at 6:51 pm
Hey Alexis,
You know, that’s not necessary the best course of action. You’re going to get information overload. Just like how Hemmingway didn’t become the best writer by reading tons of how-to write books.
It comes from self reflection and other pesudo pop psychology theories
But I think it’s good to balance ought. Read a couple of good how-to writing books here and there but don’t overload yourself.
Just my humble opinion ought.
Until then, take care.
- John
March 6th, 2008 at 2:20 am
@ John… Perhaps it does seem extreme in measure. But I’m an extreme reader by nature. I need a library the size of a small town library to house my already huge collection.
I order so many books from Amazon I started feeling embarrassed in front of the UPS man. He was coming like 3 days a week with Amazon.com boxes.
In every foreign city I visit I know where the bookstores are. And I know how to get there from the hotel. I move to apartments based on their distance from the best bookstores and libraries in the city.
I already got it bad!
Besides, I can almost always find something good in every book I read. Sometimes it’s repetitive, but I can appreciate a new angle/spin on a topic.
And alas, Hemmingway may not have been the best writer. But today everybody knows his name.
But I do appreciate your opinion. It is a lofty goal after all.
Warmest regards,
Alexis
March 10th, 2008 at 6:08 am
Well, since you are an “extreme reader”, on a mission to preview everything that relates to writing, below is a list of some advertising and copy-writing resources that will add to your “addiction”.
They are part of my running list of “have to get books for the future”. You may, or may not, be familiar with some, or all of them
I am more of a research junkie. My goal, someday, is to move closer to New York City so I can be within the vicinity of the New York Public Library.
If you have ever been there, (NYPL), the National Archives, or the Library of Congress, all three institutions are the holy grail of informational research.
I only wish they were within blocks of each other instead of different parts of the country. In addition to the below list, if you are not familiar with them already, please visit the websites of the Copyblogger.com, Mike Fortin, and the infamous Gary Halbert letters.
Gary Halbert Letter.com
http://www.thegaryhalbertletter.com/
Mike Fortin.com
http://www.michelfortin.com/
Mike Fortin has created sales copy and letters for Terry Dean, John Reese, Yanik Silver, Jay Abraham, and more.
Copyblogger.com
http://www.copyblogger.com
The list of books to consider….
Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins
My life in Advertising/Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins.
My first 65 years in Advertising by Maxwell Sackheim.
The Robert Collier Letter Book by Robert Collier.
How to Write a Good Advertisement by Victor Schwab
Tested Advertising Methods by John Caples
Magic Words that Bring You Riches by Ted Nicholas.
Ogilvy on Advertising by David Ogilvy.
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini.
The Edge: Achieve Total Health & Longevity With the Balanced Brain Advantage by: Eric Braverman.
Why People Don’t Buy Things: Five Proven Steps To Connect With Your
Customers and Dramatically Increase Your Sales by: Harry Washburn & Kim Wallace.
Persuasive Online Copywriting: How to Take Your Words to the Bank
by Bryan Eisenberg, Jeffrey Eisenberg, Lisa T. Davis
Enjoy..
Robert - The Wholesale Products Guy
March 15th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
“I can’t even fathom how much better I’d be as a writer if I took the time to read every single writing book there is. How much faster I could write. How much more creative I’d become over time.”
Hmmm. It’s good to be widely-read, but to assume that you’d be a better writer because you’ve read all that there is to read sounds (if you’ll pardon me) a little bit naive. I think that you would be in danger of losing your own voice.
Also …
How long do you think it will take to achieve this strange goal ?
Why do you think that you’d write faster after reading all these books?
Or necessarily be more creative ?
After all that … This is a great site. Keep up the good work (but ditch the goal !)
Regards,
John
[ Sounds like the self-imposed quest that a character in the Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy invented after he had an accident that made him immortal. Realising that he needed a goal to drive him on, he decided that he would insult everyone in the Universe. Not only that, but he would do it in alphabetical order. ]
March 15th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
@ The Wholesale Products Guy… Thanks for the suggestions. There were a couple that I hadn’t read yet.
@ John Shepherd… In my adult lifetime of reading I’ve already mentally pocketed at least 500 books. Without blinking I currently read 3-4 books a week.
This isn’t some thing I do periodically… I’ve always read en masse. So my goal of reading every writing book is just adding order to something that I do anyway.
I don’t know how long it’ll take. But that’s irrelevant… I’m only 35 not 105. I’m always going to be a writer in some way, shape or form. And I learn something - even if it’s some tid-bit of information - from every book I read.
But I like that others see my goal as insane.
That’s just fuel for my curios nature.
Alexis “I’m-doin’-it-dammit” Dawes
March 15th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
Hi Alexis,
Appreciate that you may be a prolific reader, but it’s not really an achievable goal, is it ? A quick search of “creative writing just available on amazon.co.uk gave over 12000 hits. At a rate of 4 books a week, that’s 3000 weeks or 57 years, so you’ll be close to that 105 figure by the time you’ve cleared the amazon.co.uk list
Let’s say each book costs an average of $10 & you’ve got also got yourself a book bill of $120k.
And maybe - just maybe - there will be a few more writing books released between your 36th and 93rd birthday ….
I wish you well in your endeavour and I’d be interested to see how you progress. Maybe you could blog the titles of the books as you complete them ?
Regards,
John