The Hang Glider

 
An image created by Helen Sword for her Writing BASE diagnostic tool.
 
 

THE HANG GLIDER

Your Hang Glider profile, shared by around 7% of academic and professional writers, shows that you have given yourself relatively high ratings (6 or above) for your Artisanal and Social habits but low or moderate ratings (5 or below) for your Behavioral and Emotional habits. This profile is called the Hang Glider because you possess skill and social connection that help you catch rising currents, but may lack consistent forward momentum and rarely experience the joy of soaring.

Your strengths and challenges create a distinctive pattern:

  • Your skill level as a writer is high, with strong technical abilities (Artisanal)

  • You often engage in fruitful conversations with other writers about your work (Social)

  • You struggle to establish consistent writing routines and productivity (Behavioral)

  • You get little joy or satisfaction from the writing process itself (Emotional)

This combination suggests you are a skilled communicator who values connection, but finds the actual practice of writing to be more of a necessary task than a fulfilling experience. You may excel at discussing, planning, and refining writing, while finding the production phase challenging both practically and emotionally.

ACTION PLAN

To broaden the BASE upon which your writing practice is built, consider drawing on your strengths to establish a more productive routine and find greater writing pleasure:

  1. Transform Social Connections into Productivity Support

    • Create structured writing groups that focus on production, not just discussion.

    • Schedule regular writing sessions with peers to establish consistent habits through social commitment.

    • Develop accountability systems with your writing community that help you follow through on intentions.

  2. Use Your Craft Knowledge to Build Better Processes

    • Analyze your writing workflow to identify exactly where behavioral and emotional barriers arise.

    • Break writing projects into smaller, technically-focused components that feel more manageable.

    • Apply your analytical skills to design personalized productivity systems that work for your style.

  3. Discover Sources of Writing Pleasure

    • Identify which specific aspects of craft give you the most satisfaction and prioritize them.

    • Create "small wins" throughout your writing process to build positive emotional associations.

    • Experiment with different writing environments and approaches to find what feels most engaging.

  4. Integrate Social Support with Emotional Growth

    • Share your emotional challenges with trusted peers who can offer perspective and encouragement.

    • Celebrate writing accomplishments within your community to build positive associations.

    • Consider how competition or collaboration might make writing more engaging for you.

The WriteSPACE can help you with all of these things!

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

 
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