OPEN THREAD

What’s One Writing Habit You Want to Lose?

Truth be told, spring is probably my least favorite season. Too much in-between-ness (is it warm? cold? a wardrobe-confusing 62 degrees?) and almost-there anticipation (buds are nice, but I prefer the splendor of a full bloom). There is one thing I love about this time of year, though — the ritual of spring cleaning. The seasonal prompt to clear out the clutter, the rarely used, the things that no longer serve us and go forward in a lighter, clearer way.

Spring cleaning applies to all those things that we’ve carried with us from the heavy days of winter and beyond. But it’s also a moment to rethink the way we do things, the practices that we want to shed or transform. As writers, it can be a moment to consider what writing habits, blockers, tics, or routines we want to minimize or leave in the past.

Maybe it’s something stylistic we want to break free from. (I know that I tend to write in triplicate. See previous paragraphs… and basically everything else I’ve ever written). Or maybe it’s something in our approach to writing, our editing process, or the things we tell ourselves as writers that are generating unnecessary clutter.

What’s on your writer’s spring cleaning list? Share in the responses!

— Liz Kotin, Curation @ Medium