Writing Starts With You, Not Your Toolbox
Your words are your lyrics
If you write, whether you’ve been at it a long time or you’re just getting into it, make a note. Your words are your lyrics. They’re your spike in the railroad tie. They’re the fruits of your toils. They aren’t Grammarly’s moneymaker. They aren’t Hemingway App’s rent check.
Using a tool doesn’t equal mad skilz. Going back to the days of pharaohs scratching on scrolls, the bottom line is the person holding the quill. Yours may be an iPad. A smartphone. A fountain pen. Doesn’t matter. The starting point? That needs to be you.
An app may catch two commas in a row when you’re rushing or maybe looking over things too casually in the line at Starbucks. For that, an app having your back is a godsend. But even then, it can only work with what you give it. Be real, Taraji Henson and Duane Johnson couldn’t save CATS.
Whatever you write, you need to put it together as if you’re doing it on a pad or in a notebook — no swiping it past your Droid or scanning it in OCR style. Like you’re on a desert island. It’s all you.
John Legend doesn’t go on stage with a tune he scribbled down in the toilet. It’s what makes him a pro. He hones it like a knife — runs it past his boys to see how they react. He knows what he wants the end product to sound like, but that takes work.
For us, that means editing and re-editing. Don’t release something just because ProWritingAid gives you a thumbs up. If you submit a piece that makes a publisher wince, trust me, they’re going to remember.
Put the work in so your words read like you are telling me in an elevator, and then open your toolbox to shave off the rough edges. It’s a process, and the process doesn’t change just because you buy a shortcut machine. Good work is good work, and your best work is all you should put into a piece of code.
