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Socratic Scribbling: Great Ideas From Great Books That Will Help You Think and Write Better
Do you suffer from the Blank Page Syndrome? Do you have trouble thinking up what you want to say when you’re called on to write or to speak? Not being able to find the right words can get in the way of romance and success! Retired advertising man Malachy Walsh had to write on demand for 30 years. In Socratic Scribbling, he reveals secrets he learned from Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Quintillion, Shakespeare, and other Great Writers and Thinkers that helped him make his mark in advertising. Malachy believes good writing is less about following rules and more about making things happen with words. He shows us how to explain complicated things in simple ways, how to persuade people by getting them to convince themselves, how to tell stories that delight and instruct, and how to make speeches that engage and enchant. And it all starts when we follow Socrates as he asks the right questions.
- GenresWriting
204 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 19, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 30, 2021
Aristotle and the Art of Ad Writing
Socratic Scribbling by Malachy Walsh
Please give my Amazon review a helpful vote - https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-re...
Malachy Walsh is the genius who revitalized Cheese Whiz. He made a career in advertising by applying the principles of Aristotle's Poetics to advertising. Afterwards, he got involved in moderating groups reading the Great Books in the Online Great Books program, which is where I got this book.
This book is great because it integrates the time tested principles of Aristotelianism into the subject of writing. There are a lot of books on writing on the market, but this book breaks down the writing process with an eye to the teachings of Aristotle on invention, arrangement, style, memory and delivery. Walsh illustrates these concepts with stories from his experience with advertising, which are often humorous and invariably insightful.
As an illustration of Walsh's principles, he suggests that writing involves having a "news" sense, which involves something "new," which, in turn, involves asking the question of what would interest a reader or catch the reader's attention. As a guide to thinking about that issue, Walsh suggests applying Aristotle's categories - substance, quantity, quality, relative relations, locations, time, position, states of being, activities, and effects. These are the way we think about things, and if we are going to find something new and noteworthy, they are going to be found in the categories.
There may be a thousand ways to write, but it is important to have some practical approach to get started and push through to the finish. Aristotle's approach is one that works, in life as well as writing.
Socratic Scribbling by Malachy Walsh
Please give my Amazon review a helpful vote - https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-re...
Malachy Walsh is the genius who revitalized Cheese Whiz. He made a career in advertising by applying the principles of Aristotle's Poetics to advertising. Afterwards, he got involved in moderating groups reading the Great Books in the Online Great Books program, which is where I got this book.
This book is great because it integrates the time tested principles of Aristotelianism into the subject of writing. There are a lot of books on writing on the market, but this book breaks down the writing process with an eye to the teachings of Aristotle on invention, arrangement, style, memory and delivery. Walsh illustrates these concepts with stories from his experience with advertising, which are often humorous and invariably insightful.
As an illustration of Walsh's principles, he suggests that writing involves having a "news" sense, which involves something "new," which, in turn, involves asking the question of what would interest a reader or catch the reader's attention. As a guide to thinking about that issue, Walsh suggests applying Aristotle's categories - substance, quantity, quality, relative relations, locations, time, position, states of being, activities, and effects. These are the way we think about things, and if we are going to find something new and noteworthy, they are going to be found in the categories.
There may be a thousand ways to write, but it is important to have some practical approach to get started and push through to the finish. Aristotle's approach is one that works, in life as well as writing.
April 1, 2021
A book on writing that actually helps you with the writing process instead of just another grammar or style guide.
August 18, 2021
Entertaining, enlightening and edifying. Malachy Walsh synthesizes the lessons he learned from his schooling with the nuns and Jesuits, his career in marketing and his life long appreciation of the Great Books in order to provide a truly accessible roadmap for writing, and writing well.
The last chapter outlines the lessons, rules and ideas that Walsh explains and expands upon in the rest of the book. This outline is an amazing reference resource that will keep Walsh's book near my desk at all times.
The reason this book was so enjoyable, though, was Walsh's ability to make great writers like Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas and Shakespeare eminently accessible, pulling the curtain back on their proclivity for literary pilfering, while blending his hilarious insights and experiences from the ad making world.
As a parent, there is much that Walsh recovers that I want to make a part of my children's education. I have a few years to try and catch up myself! But Walsh provides the tools and points to additional resources that I'm excited to explore.
The last chapter outlines the lessons, rules and ideas that Walsh explains and expands upon in the rest of the book. This outline is an amazing reference resource that will keep Walsh's book near my desk at all times.
The reason this book was so enjoyable, though, was Walsh's ability to make great writers like Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas and Shakespeare eminently accessible, pulling the curtain back on their proclivity for literary pilfering, while blending his hilarious insights and experiences from the ad making world.
As a parent, there is much that Walsh recovers that I want to make a part of my children's education. I have a few years to try and catch up myself! But Walsh provides the tools and points to additional resources that I'm excited to explore.
August 2, 2022
Overall:
The simplistic approach to writing assistance beat all the other books I had read during my times in various colleges. While some of the information isn't "needed" within the book, the author did a good job of giving solid examples of his lessons by pushing them inside the story of how the book came to be. Packed with advice and practice techniques, this took so many things I sort-of knew and put them in an easy to understand format. I definitely recommend this book for individuals who want to improve their writing.
Thoughts:
1. It's nice to know my problems aren't new or singular. Having problems that are thousands of years old has makes me feel like I'm not the odd one out.
2. There's a name for everything apparently, and I cannot remember them, no matter how many times I try.
3. Perhaps the name isn't the important part.
The simplistic approach to writing assistance beat all the other books I had read during my times in various colleges. While some of the information isn't "needed" within the book, the author did a good job of giving solid examples of his lessons by pushing them inside the story of how the book came to be. Packed with advice and practice techniques, this took so many things I sort-of knew and put them in an easy to understand format. I definitely recommend this book for individuals who want to improve their writing.
Thoughts:
1. It's nice to know my problems aren't new or singular. Having problems that are thousands of years old has makes me feel like I'm not the odd one out.
2. There's a name for everything apparently, and I cannot remember them, no matter how many times I try.
3. Perhaps the name isn't the important part.
December 2, 2022
Very helpful. Mr. Walsh uses his years of experience as an advertising expert and an avid reader of the great books and applies it to being great communicator in the classic tradition.
Some takeaways:
Three types of writing: provide facts, persuade, and delight.
Find the questions your audience is asking.
Know the proofs your audience already value and use them with emotionally charged facts.
The importance of tropes for style.
Steps for writing: invention (collecting data), arranging of data, writing, editing.
Classical model of rhetoric (in fishing terms):
Exordium (bait)
Narration (hook)
Affirmations (catch)
Objections (clean)
Peroration (eat)
Full of practical advice
Some takeaways:
Three types of writing: provide facts, persuade, and delight.
Find the questions your audience is asking.
Know the proofs your audience already value and use them with emotionally charged facts.
The importance of tropes for style.
Steps for writing: invention (collecting data), arranging of data, writing, editing.
Classical model of rhetoric (in fishing terms):
Exordium (bait)
Narration (hook)
Affirmations (catch)
Objections (clean)
Peroration (eat)
Full of practical advice
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews