[One Thousand Characters a Day] The Power of 'Transcription' to Improve Writing Skills <3>

Editor's NoteBefore writing, people share various concerns. "My sentences are verbose," "I repeat the same words," "I can't write the first sentence." ＜Transcription Sentence Mastery Special Lecture＞ analyzes these concerns by type, illustrating what and why they are problematic with examples. It introduces a wide range of example texts not only from Korean authors such as Kim Hoon, Kim Yeonsu, Park Wan-seo, Shin Young-bok, and Jung Jae-seung, but also from international writers like Hemingway, Tolstoy, and George Orwell. After analyzing what makes these writings excellent, it provides space to imitate and compose directly. If you have ever given up or felt frustrated by dismissing sentence mastery and writing as merely a matter of talent, follow this book with a light heart. The moment you close the last page, you will experience your sentences becoming renewed. Word count: 983.

Now, prepare a pencil and notebook, and copy selected sentences one by one by hand or using a word processor while reading them aloud. At this time, as novelist Jo Jung-rae says, "Copy even the period exactly" and "carefully chew over every punctuation mark, spacing, and correct characters." Write at least once. It is also good to write two or three times repeatedly.

If you have transcribed at least once, think about why this sentence is good. Write about three reasons you think so in the margin below the transcribed paragraph. Anything is fine. Write whatever comes to mind. Even after looking at the sentence for a long time, you may not come up with reasons. Then, apply the criteria of a 'good sentence' one by one. There is no correct answer. Try writing the reasons you think of. This is a training process to develop your sentence-reading insight.

Finally, while maintaining the form and structure of the transcribed sentence, try composing on a free topic. Set the number of sentences you write to match the number of transcribed sentences. Grasp the sentence length, rhythm, context, and atmosphere of the transcribed example sentences. Keep in mind about three reasons why the example sentences are good, which you previously noted, and create sentences line by line in the same format but with different content. At first, your writing will not be exactly like the example sentences. When the topic changes, the tone and structure of the writing also change, so it may feel awkward. However, by practicing composition this way, you will naturally understand the structure of writing. While composing and matching sentence length, you will acquire a sense of rhythm and examine subjects and predicates to write simple and clear sentences. To connect the context naturally, you will pay attention to causal relationships between sentences and carefully consider the coherence of the writing. If you had only transcribed, you might have missed these subtle writing training processes, but by composing, you experience them firsthand. Repeating this process will naturally build confidence in writing. If reading is the basic element for improving sentence skills, transcription and composition practice act like lubricants.

Of course, it is difficult to see effects by doing transcription and composition practice just a few times. It is best to do it consistently until it becomes a habit.

- Kim Min-young, Lee Jin-hee, Kim Je-hee, Kwon Jeong-hee, ＜Transcription Sentence Mastery Special Lecture＞, Book by Book, 14,000 KRW