Agitprop, Part 1
Lenin Writing
Writing
Writing comes first because it is the ordering art of so
many other arts.
In politics, writing is indispensable. Most of our cadres
need to be able to write. By being able to write is meant more than to be literate,
just as being literate means more than to be able to read.
The question of language will mainly be left to the final CU
course, which will just be on Languages. Suffice it to say that we need writers
in all languages used in South Africa, and not just in the 11 official ones. We
need people who can at least handle text in French, Portuguese, Swahili, and
Arabic, too.
But in this item, we are talking about writing in general.
What advice can we give?
The purpose of writing is to be understood. Political
writing is better when it is shorter. To compose your thoughts, use “Mind Maps”,
as described in the attached text. To organise your research, follow the
“Organic Study Guide” contained in the document, and similar advice.
Write in Prose. Prose is in paragraphs, and it has a
beginning, middle and end. Prose does not rely on bullets, numbers, letters or
other listing mechanisms.
A good way to start writing is to write in a way that is
adapted from the way you speak. If you can make yourself understood in speech,
then you should be able to make yourself as well understood with the same words
on paper. Then you can improve. There is no requirement for you to be pompous.
Simplicity is best.
Political writing is better when shorter. Nearly all kinds
of writing are limited as to length. Therefore make a habit of watching the
number of words in any piece of writing (your own, and whenever possible, other
people’s.
Here is a rough indication of the kinds of length required
for different kinds of writing:
Item
|
Length (+/-)
|
Sentence
|
10 words
|
Paragraph
|
50 words
|
Letter to the Editor
|
300 words
|
Press Release/Newspaper Report
|
300 words
|
Article (“op ed” or “feature”)
|
750 words
|
Speech (100 words per minute)
|
1 500 words
|
Essay
|
2 500 words
|
Chapter of a book
|
5 000 words
|
Book of ten chapters
|
50 000 words
|
From this chart it can be seen that each succeeding kind of
project can be built up by repeating elements like the preceding, smaller ones.
Writing is modular, like bricklaying. The modules are small. Short sentences
and short paragraphs are best in political writing, and in journalism. If you
can write a sentence, then you can write a book.
Reading goes with writing. Both are habits. Keep reading,
and keep writing, like breathing in and breathing out. Try to write for people.
Any readers are good readers. Even a small amount of feedback is extremely
instructive.
Lenin described himself as a writer. Lenin’s style became
clearer and clearer and he became more experienced. Lenin’s style is a good
model of shortness combined with clarity.
Writing is a pleasure. The Chilean communist writer Volodia
Teitelboim used to say that writing was the easiest way he knew of being happy.
- The above is to
introduce an original reading-text: Use Your Head Conspectus, Tweedie, after Buzan, 1974.
