Work Based Writing

I gained a clerical job in social services. As the junior member of the team, I was at the front desk to meet people who came to the office seeking help. Each day, people in need turned up – such as the disabled, the homeless and the elderly sought support. My job was to find what their needs were, and to pass on the information about their situation and requirements to my senior colleagues.

This involved writing notes on the issues that people raised. I summarized the key points and put them in a file for my senior colleagues. Those notes had to be succinct, factual and clear. To do that, I wrote short sentences, so called one-liners. As a result, my writing ability improved.

Study Based Writing

My colleagues suggested that I attend the local technical college to gain some qualifications. While studying, I used the short sentence approach when writing assignments. To my surprise, I passed the examinations. Within a short time, I gained entry to the University of the London School of Economics.

Over the next three years, I had to write many essays. That helped me to develop my writing skills. In particular, I again used the one-line sentence approach. It certainly helped me write with clarity, and I went on to gain a degree.

Editorial Based Writing

I returned to the world of paid work as a researcher. Writing in a clear fashion was a requirement of the job. Next, I gained a role as a university teacher, and had to mark papers submitted by students. Based on what I had learned, I advised them to use short sentences.

My next major role was in a publishing company. I became the editor of journals that focussed on psychology, education and career development. Again, I valued those who expressed their ideas in clear and easy to read sentences.

Therefore, I developed the confidence to write books. I used the one-line sentence method, and people complimented me. They said my books were easy to read.

Life Stories

I was fascinated by the life stories of some of the world’s most amazing people. Could I use this one-line approach to write about amazing achievers? Why not write virtual interviews with people from times past who made major contributions to our world?

To do so, I imagined that people like Shakespeare, Marie Curie, Mozart, Nelson Mandela, Helen Keller had travelled through time, so that I could interview them.

As a result, I created ‘Bioviews.’ – short for ‘biographical interviews’. Central to each one, is the system which I call ‘one-line writing’.

Key Points of One-Line Writing

• All lines should contain between 5 and 20 words.
• If the information is longer than that put a full stop and start a new sentence.
• Each line should state a fact, a description or an emotion.
• Every line should carry the story forward to raise questions of what comes next.
  
  

Exemplars

In the process, I noted that Shakespeare was a master of one-line writing.

‘I wasted time, and now time doth waste me.’

‘Ambition should be made of sterner stuff.’

These lines invite another line by asking ‘why’ or ‘how’?

I became interested in music. As a result, I noticed that songwriters revelled in one-line writing. Bob Dylan encouraged a new generation to think differently with his lyric – 

‘For the times they are a changin’.

I used the one-line method in my own lyrics. In the song, ‘Your’re Pure Gold’, I wrote – ‘There is peace in the air whenever you are near and I hear you whisper my name.’

Poets are renowned for capturing important meanings in one line. William Wordsworth wrote  –

‘I wandered lonely as a cloud’.

Rudyard Kipling was a master of one-line writing, for example  –

‘If you can dream, but not make dreams your master’.

Therefore, I developed the confidence to write books. I used the one-line method and people complimented me. They said my books were easy to read.

In my book, ‘If Only I Had Said’, I outlined the ways and means people could communicate using key ideas, such as ‘general’ and ‘specific’ thinking. It is available on Amazon here.