Around the writers' web

A couple of days ago I read an interesting article. Bored of Edukation is a post written by Jay Stringer at Do Some Damage, a crime fiction writers' blog. 

He's a writer -- and he's dyslexic. Interesting combination, no?  I encourage you to read the entire post, but I particularly liked these words:

"But writing is different, just as with my extended example of video editing. It's taking a block of text, or a blank page, and arranging patterns around until it looks right, until those patterns click together in a way that is telling a story, and has an ebb and flow, a rhythm. It's 3D mapping; taking the structure and flipping it, spinning it, chopping it. Beating on it until it's the right shape."

I'm not dyslexic but I identify strongly with this description. That's it: seeing the patterns. That's how you know to move this scene to that spot, to place mention of a clue right here, and it's how you know that what you've written works. You see the pattern and it's just right (or it's time to rewrite.)

Go read the full post if you have an interest in the topic. I've always found dyslexia wildly interesting. I commented on the article, by the way, adding an observation from my own life.

Note: I like Do Some Damage because the five or so writers who blog there often speak about the experience of writing.  It's a nuts and bolts site where the writing process really steps forward. Too bad they write in a different genre.