Overview

There are theories all over the net.

• What is good writing?
• What is great writing?

In our current system of communication, we use language to explain these concepts.

And when we explain, we make things worse.

So who do we blame?

• The Teacher or the Student?
• The Presenter or the Audience?

We have to go deeper.

It’s not either party, it’s the language.

English is a normal language designed for basic communication, not advanced concepts.

And here’s how we “talk” in our current system.

A student turns in a paper and the teacher responds, “Sorry David, but this is Bad Writing.”

And David responds, “how do I get better?”

Suddenly, you have a student rushing to make a fix when the basic idea was never established.

Or, more appropriately, never shown.

Let’s throw all that foolishness out of the window and start over.

We will start at Ground Zero.

What is Communication?

It is defined as the exchange of thoughts, messages, or information.

What is its purpose?

To reach mutual understanding.

Did you read that?

Does it make sense?

And like the rest of our society, it SOUNDS GOOD.

But does it work?

Let’s lift the veils from our eyes.

It works in a vacuum that we call THEORY.

How does that help David?

It doesn’t.

So, let’s leave that world and deal with this issue in Visual Learning.

Can you show me what communication does? 

With that in mind, let’s walk through David’s education.

David, this is what Bad Writing looks like and this is what usually happens when we write.

David responds, “that’s not what I want!”

And I smile, “you are correct and this is what we want.”

And suddenly David leans in and jumps up.

That’s it, I can see!

And I calm him down and sigh and respond.

“I want you to remember this moment David. There is a standard (communication), what is, and what we want, but there’s another level we must reach.”

David responds, “Perfection!”

“No David, I’m speaking on Imagination. It is how we achieve greatness. In our example, this is what Great Writing looks like.”

David eyes the image and rushes away.

As I clean off the chalkboard, he returns in thirty minutes and his writing is fluid, succinct, and accurate.

“So David, here’s what we learned today. English is a normal language and has severe limitations. When we express ourselves visually for COMPREHENSION FIRST, we are able to express our point better and thus, we write better. It’s that simple.”

As David walks away, another student knocks on my door and asks me, “Is this Writing 101, if so, can we talk about the Hero’s Journey?”