Writing Sucks

Dear W,

You love writing. But you say you’re not a good writer. That’s ok. Because writing isn’t that important. But we’ll get to that in just a second. 

You love writing. It feels so good to read something you’ve published. You feel accomplished. 

So, why do you avoid it? You read stuff online and think, “wow, this isn’t so hard. I can write. I will be someone who shares knowledge.” And then you sit down with your iPad and try out three different apps “designed for writing” and you stare at a blank screen and think your time would be better spent doing anything else.

Getting to that published piece isn’t hard. Just remember these two things:

1. Give a shit about your topic.
   No one hired you to write. Why are you putting pressure on yourself to deliver on a certain topic? Write what matters to you. You’re not a “guru.” Just write what you care about. You’ll deepen your understanding and your knowledge of the topics you care about by writing about them. That’s how learning works. 
   
2. Writing isn’t important. Editing is.
   Don’t be a good writer. Be a great editor. You have to write down the shittiest of first drafts just so you have something in your hands you can play with. Then, go in and edit the crap out of it. You’ll learn the patterns that you can only see by stepping back. This is called deliberate practice  You did this as a tennis player, as a graphic designer, as a teacher. Look at what you’ve made, figure out how you can do it better, and do it better. Your first few tries are not what you’re showing the world. 

You love to write. The feeling of finishing a piece is such a beautiful one. Love your topics, but don’t love writing. Love editing – the process of refining and smoothing out the jagged edges of your work until you have the smoothest piece of content possible.

Hack away, sir. 

– W