Conclusion of the #WhyWeWrite Series
The Forge Editors
Today’s contributions from LTCOL Clare O’Neill and GPCAPT Jason Begley are the last in the #WhyWeWrite series. GPCAPT Begley emphasises the importance of the discipline of writing for refining the thinking process. LTCOL O’Neill’s piece reflects on how far we have come in the ADF in professional writing, in working collaboratively as a team, and the origin story of the Grounded Curiosity blog.
The end of this series is only the start of the conversation. We hope that the pieces published over the last two weeks have inspired you to contribute to the profession of arms through the medium of writing. Some useful articles about military writing are here:
Heather Venable: The Good, The Bad, and the bit of Ugly: Writing and Getting Published Online via Grounded Curiosity
Joe Byerly: Writing in the Professional Military: I tried it and I was not attacked by sea monsters!
CDR BJ Armstrong (US Navy) has also written a series on Professional Writing via the US Naval Institute Blog:
- Charting a Course for our Professional Writing
- This Isn’t Magic - Manuscript to Article
- Act like a Professional
And if you want to get started on social media, read LTCOL Clare O’Neill’s piece on Using Social Media as a Junior Leader.
There are many platforms for military writers to seek publication. LTCOL O’Neill also created a Prezi to capture a sample of online media in Your Guide to the Professional Military Development Framework via Grounded Curiosity.
This series will be an enduring part of The Forge, and we are opening the series to a broader range of contributions. If you want to share ‘why you write’, send us your contribution: the.forge@defence.gov.au. We will consider submissions from all military and civilian professionals, and from the international military and national security community. The Forge editorial team is also able to assist new writers in having their work published on The Forge.
We hope you have found the series to be insightful and inspirational, with useful guidelines for finding time to contribute to the profession via writing. We look forward to working with you on your submission!