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Craft of Writing

Christina Sexton Wilcox

The Fine Art Of Ranting

Turning Personal Grievances & Experiences Into Information Readers Can Use

Has anyone ever accused you of being a know-it-all? Have you ever been angry enough about an issue to fire off a letter to the editor? Journaling your personal experiences is one way to get ideas off your chest and find solutions to common problems.

But the rantings in your journal are just a starting-off point, a place for ideas to flow. The shaping of these opinions and experiences into publishable articles is a process. There are many types of fiction and nonfiction articles that can be gleaned from your personal experience. In this article, I will show you some techniques on how to take your personal experiences and shape them into publishable prose. I will focus on two types: the Advice/How-To article and the Protest/Call-To-Action article. These two require the least amount of research and are usually short enough to complete in one or two sittings.

First Things First: The Bottom Line
Most of the time you will have too much information, too much to say. This is actually a good problem. Ramble on in your journal, go off in tangents, get your ideas down. But when writing your article, you must decide what to keep and what to leave out. (Sometimes the contents you glean can even become another article.)

When constructing your article, always remember the answers to these questions: "What is my most basic point?" and "What is the message I am trying to get across?" If you can take each new element of the article back to its basic point, you can keep yourself on track throughout the piece.

The Advice or How-To Article
How many times do you find yourself starting a sentence with, "You want to know what I'd do?" Have you worn out your friends and family with your advice? If they'd only listen, you could solve their relationship woes, their workplace dilemmas, and even help them tackle City Hall. If this sounds familiar, then the Advice article is for you.

The basic message must be positive and optimistic. You don't have to be an expert on anything to offer hopeful advice (but having some personal experience on the matter does add to your credibility in offering the advice to begin with). Use a common sense approach and outline steps that are simple to follow. You can convey your own beliefs, and are only limited by your own Bottom Line.

From advice on avoiding diaper rash to tips on being a good listener, remember that the article can (and should) contain things that have worked for you. This also makes the writing easier (with less research). Stick to one message, and tackle one dilemma per article.

For example: Journal ranting: Bob and I never go out anymore. We just can't afford it and I think our money troubles are causing us to grow apart. We fight all the time and never seem to spend time together. He's beat after a day of interviews. And I'm getting tired of worrying about it all.

Gleaning ideas: Choose one focus, such as "How can we spend time with each other without spending a lot of money?" Then choose three to five solutions to expand upon, such as taking a nature hike, making homemade pizza and renting a movie, giving each other a romantic massage.

Final article idea: A how-to article about spending quality time with your spouse on a budget.

The Protest or Call-to-Action Article
More than any other kind of article, this one may most resemble your journal rantings. But, it has to more organized and have more focus than a journal entry. The Protest article is usually in response to something that bugs you, and has been bugging you for a while. Focus on an emotionally charged, controversial topic. It is written as your opinion, but to work well and progress beyond your personal ranting, this article must be sufficiently familiar and of general interest to other people.

For example: You're ticked that your neighbor mows his lawn at 7 a.m. every Saturday. No one else will care unless you make your case less about him, and more about neighborhood noise pollution in general.

Technique 1: Acknowledge the opposition's arguments (even agree with part of them), but then set your audience straight on why their points of view or their actions are ultimately wrong. You must anticipate the issues on the other side of the argument. By comparing both sides of an issue, you can more easily prove your side right. For example: "One might say that it is his right to mow his lawn, that he is not breaking any rule, and I agree. But when the sounds of birds chirping is replaced by the grating noise of lawn mowers and leaf blowers, he crosses the line of common courtesy."

Technique 2: Pose the rhetorical question: "Don't we all treasure the tranquility of Saturday mornings?" When put this way, who would disagree? Remember to keep up the emotion, and feel free to elaborate, all the while keeping in mind your broad audience.

These articles don't, however, serve your intended purpose unless you advise a call to action on the part of readers. Once you've proven your point, suggest actions that others who share your dilemma should take. These are entirely up to you and can range broadly. Do you want them to sign a petition outlawing lawn mowers until 8 or 9 a.m., start a neighborhood noise pollution campaign, write their Congressperson? Whatever your call to action is, remember your audience and keep it simple.

The sky's the limit when you are creating these kinds of articles. If you have an opinion or advice, you can create publishable articles! Remember to take the time to journal every day. You will be pleasantly surprised by how many articles you can glean from your daily life.