Ever wonder why every other writer seems to knock out a killer post five days a week, while you barely manage to meander through one mediocre post every other Tuesday?
You might believe it’s because you’re a hopeless dolt of a writer. Maybe you are, but I doubt it. Chances are, you just need a little help. Before you surrender, hanging your head low in defeat, know that everything will be alright.
You CAN be saved… from YOURSELF!!
Here are 7 reasons why your writing flows like molasses, along with 7 ways to fix it!
1) Your Self-Editing is Out of Control.
You can’t even get to the end of the sentence without re-reading and editing what you’ve written. You can always edit later, but when it comes to writing fast, nothing is as important as getting your initial ideas onto the page.
Don’t spoil your rhythm by searching the thesaurus for a better word. Chances are, you’ve already used the best one. Leave it.
Lose the flow and lose your time. Pour your ideas onto the page, then be prepared to “murder your darlings” only after you’ve finished.
2) You’re Paying Too Much Attention to Auto-Edit
If you’re using a word processing application, turn off spell check and auto correct.
They are unnecessary distractions. Like self editing, they will shatter your flow.
Unleash your words, typos and all.
And forget about formatting, at least until later. Why spend time formatting copy that may end up on the cutting room floor?
3) You’re Trying to Say EVERYTHING
Be precise. Your readers are in search of a specific solution, and you may be trying to say WAY too much. Don’t go off on tangents by trying to get every drop of paint on your canvas. Let your readers fill in the blanks instead.
Pick a few salient points, enough to get your message across, then keep your copy clear and concise.
4) You’re Treating Publishing as an Open Ended Process
You probably don’t have all day. I know I don’t. And if I didn’t set limits, I’d never get anything done.
Know when you expect to finish so you can enjoy the sunset. Set a word or time limit and keep typing until you hit it. Consistency is the secret weapon that will help you win the online writing game.
Remember, success is rarely an accident.
5) There’s No Joy in Your Writing
If you’re approaching your copy as a chore, rather than a chance to articulate your awesome, you WILL procrastinate. This is simple human nature.
You may have to massage your mood into exercising, but you’ve probably never had to give yourself a pep talk to play video games or eat a bowl of ice cream.
Change your topic or find a new way to express something you may have found dull. But never lose the wonder of writing so the magic is always easier to grab.
6) You’re Chicken
Bucka, bucka, buckaw!!!
Give a cease and desist to your inner filter and start saying what you really mean. Otherwise you risk contrived writing. Plus, the process of hiding the real you behind artificial thoughts will bleed you of the minutes spent not being authentic.
Say what you mean and mean what you say. Stop worrying what everyone else will think. Trying to make everyone happy almost always leads to an empty echo.
7) Your Typing Sucks
Your thoughts arrive at the speed of blinking, yet you type at the pace of a sloth, meaning you regularly lose 15 ideas before you’ve finished the first sentence.
Take a week to improve your typing skills or try dictation software (it’s getting better by the day). Hunting and pecking will get you nowhere.
If you’re a professional writer, your time truly is your money. Find ways to increase your speed and you will eventually be making more money for every word you write!
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About Sean Platt
this is very very good my friend, and good for me to read
Thought I replied to this!
(I was probably multitasking…)
I never thought about auto-editing slowing down the process. Usually I write things in WordPad first, then drop it into Word to make sure there are no spelling / grammatical mistakes. I am lucky that my typing is pretty good. I couldn’t be a court reporter or anything, but thanks to lots of multi-tasking with AOL instant messages, I learned to type fast at a young age and maintained the skill!
It’s funny, I multitask a LOT, even though I know it’s a pillow on the face of my productivity. Yet when I take the time to open a clean document, turn off all my many distractions, and simply WRITE, I get through the copy ridiculously fast. But it’s hard to make myself do it.
Sometimes I am a weak, weak man. :)
Sean,
You are not alone. I do multitask and sometimes write a blog post, newsletter, do commenting and write a guest post simultaneously. Well not literally but I switch between these tasks before completing them on sitting. It works!
Jane.
“You’re Treating Publishing as an Open Ended Process” – Ouch. You hit me right in the gut with that one. Time to set the timer and kick out some posts.
Timers work GREAT! I’ve been using Awaken for Mac. Works like a charm!
I so need to improve my speed and length…too wordy and it takes me about 3 hours per post…
Still a Keyword failure too…aargh
I find dictation software awesome…I wish I could afford the new one that you do not have to train…(my hands shake something awful – so this is a boon) I naturally talk fast
I still have to train mine, but it’s well worth the effort. Saves me hours a week. Don’t know what I’d do without it!
You’ve seen it all when someone says “Bucka, bucka, buckaw!!!’
Feel pretty good, Sean?
Ha, I’ve been wanting to use “Bucka, bucka, buckaw!!!’in a sentence since Eminem did it in Encore. :)
I am so guilty of #1, but I am also learning very quickly that the “1st draft” doesn’t have to be perfect. I can always add or take away later. I believe that the more you free your mind and let it flow, the better chance you have of avoiding writer-block syndrome.
It’s all about writing FAST. I usually spend twice as long editing as I do writing, but the end result is superior copy that takes less time to write.
Tracy says you’re doing AWESOME by the way. :)
Ouch, your first two points hit me squarely between the eyes, Sean. That first one is especially slowing down my writing. I’ve found my biggest issue is editing for formatting. I preview each of my post 50 to 100 times while I’m writing and then edit what I’ve written to make sure it looks good.
I like Kristi’s approach of writing the post in something else, then just dropping it into WordPress. Perhaps that will help my obsession with editing for format, or at least force me to do it after I’ve written my post. What do you think?
I think it’s a great solution.
I can’t remember the last time I wrote directly into the WP dashboard.
It’s SO slooooooow.
Also, voice recognition software is AWESOME, as long as you’re patient enough to train it well in the beginning, and you don’t mind talking to yourself all the time!
Hey Sean
The self editing and the typing speed go hand in hand as far as I’m concerned. If you’re typing at 80 wpm plus your brain doesn’t have time to go back and edit stuff.
So you can really get into ‘flow state.’ (Interestingly for me, you’re the only writer – other than me – that I’ve seen talk about flow writing and non fiction writing.)
The Voice Recognition thing is something I tried briefly with and gave up on very quickly. It’s not just the training of the software that’s a distraction – it’s retraining the brain to ‘speak’ an article, or blog post. I find my speaking voice – and the way I express ideas – is very different to my voice when I type.
But if my hands were cut off I’m sure I could retrain!
Paul
Speech recognition took me a while, but now I love it. It wasn’t just the training, it was actually saying, “Comma,” “New Paragraph,” etc.
So once I trained the software I had to also train myself. But now I don’t know what I’d do without it. Huge timesaver.
I too have taken to writing on Word then dropping it into WordPress. Having the blank Word screen is def easier. Right now I’m in process of developing a new self-schedule as my home/time situation has changed…so I’m still not where I want to be, productivity-wise. But I’m getting there! As far as self-editing, etc., I was an editor for years (and started as a proofreader) so it comes naturally to me. I think the biggest thing for (most) writers is letting things like Twitter, etc., suck down your time. Your tweeps will wait!!!
Man, does it ever!
I always work best when I set limits for myself: I will ONLY stay on Twitter for x number of minutes, then stick to it no matter what.
Yes! That is my problem. I am trying to say EVERYTHING! My brain is filled to the brim with ideas, but when the ideas flow — the bottleneck phenomenon occurs and I find myself stumped from time to time. Thank you so very much for this. Now that I recognize what my issue is, I’ll be able to move forward! You are AWESOME!
My pleasure, Alyn. Nice to see you!