Want to Learn to Write? Study Painting.

Want to Learn to Write? Study Painting.

In just a week we will be saying goodbye to Paris and go to Florence and finally Rome and arrive back in the States May 1.

One of my Paris adventures was to paint a “masterpiece” and then try to sell it on the street. While I’m nowhere near talented enough to paint an actual masterpiece, I reached out to local artist Pauline Fraisse who agreed to help me with my painting, and over a few days in the Luxembourg Gardens and the Marais, I managed to paint something that wasn’t terrible.

What I found fascinating about working with Pauline was how many parallels her painting process had with writing. As she taught me to be a better painter, I found I was learning to be a better writer as well.

What I’m Learning About Writing from Paris

Paris has always been an inspiration for writers and artists. I’ve been here for a month, now, and I’m certainly not lacking in inspiration. However, you don’t have to go to Paris to get the gift the city has to offer. Here’s what I’ve learned about writing from living in Paris.

Writing Fast and Slow: Creative Writing Lessons from Daniel Kahneman

Writing Fast and Slow: Creative Writing Lessons from Daniel Kahneman

I’m reading Nobel Prize winning Daniel Kahneman‘s groundbreaking book Thinking Fast and Slow. 

What does a celebrated psychologist turned economist have to say about creative writing (besides the fact that his step-daughter is the fiction editor at the New Yorker)? A lot. The lessons I’m learning from Thinking Fast and Slow are transforming the way I write, and I think they will help you, too.

Paris [writing prompt]

Paris [writing prompt]

PRACTICE

Paris is the City of Light, the city where the great modernists writers lived and met each other, like James Joyce, Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald and more. It’s the city where Ben Franklin did diplomacy and wrote for more than a decade. It’s the city of Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables and Charles Dickens A Tale of Two Cities. 

Write about Paris. Write for fifteen minutes. When you’re finished, post your practice in the comments section. And if you do post, be sure to give feedback to your fellow writers.

Happy writing!