The Wing

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

THE WING

Your Wing profile, shared by around 5% of academic and professional writers, shows that you have given yourself a relatively high rating (6 or above) for your Social habits but low or moderate ratings (5 or below) for your Behavioral, Artisanal, and Emotional habits. This profile is called the Wing because, while you excel at connecting and networking, you may struggle to gain lift and momentum in your actual writing practice.

Your strengths and challenges create a distinctive pattern:

  • You frequently engage in fruitful conversations and collaborations with other writers (Social).

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

  • You lack confidence in your craftsmanship and technical writing abilities (Artisanal).

  • You get little or no pleasure from the writing process itself (Emotional).

This combination suggests you may be better at talking about writing, planning writing, or supporting others’ writing than actually producing your own written work with confidence and satisfaction.

ACTION PLAN

To broaden the BASE upon which your writing practice is built, consider drawing on your social networks to address the other, weaker dimensions:

  1. Transform Social Connections into Productivity Support

    • Create accountability partnerships with specific, scheduled check-ins about your writing progress.

    • Join or form a working group that writes together regularly, rather than just talking about writing.

    • Set up a system where your social commitments directly drive your writing behavior.

  2. Build Artisanal Skills Through Social Learning

    • Seek direct feedback on specific craft elements from writers whose skills you admire.

    • Participate in workshops focused on developing particular writing techniques.

    • Form a skill-swap arrangement where you exchange your social strengths for others’ craft knowledge.

  3. Discover Writing Joy Through Shared Experiences

    • Identify colleagues who genuinely enjoy writing and spend time writing alongside them.

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

    • Experiment with collaborative writing projects that might be more emotionally rewarding.

  4. Create Integrated Social-Writing Experiences

    • Schedule regular writing retreats or sessions that combine social interaction with focused writing time.

    • Develop rituals that transition from social connection to productive individual writing.

    • Use your social nature to create writing environments that address your other needs.

The WriteSPACE can help you with all of these things!

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