OPEN THREAD
Writing Habits We’d Like to Leave Behind
Highlights from our March open thread
It can seem almost wrong that it takes just a fraction of a second to hit “publish” on a Medium story. All that note-taking, drafting, rewriting, agonizing…and then, click, that’s it. It’s up. And out there. The joy! The uncertainty! The joy!
Getting to that point when you’re ready to click “publish” can be hard, so it makes sense that we use whatever methods we can to make it happen. Yet there are moments, often in between our last story and our next one, where we might pause to consider: what could we have done differently? Better? In our process? Our prose? In the next story we draft?
In our last open thread, we asked you: “What’s one writing habit you want to lose?” Lots of you shared your thoughts. We’ve collected a few here (for the full list of responses, head on over to the original thread). Check out the creators who chimed in, and take a look at their work. And if you’re thinking of doing something differently when it comes to your writing, please add it to the original thread. It’s always helpful to hear about other writers’ habits and how-to’s.
Hone with humor
I need to lose my long mega-sentences with multiple appositives, nested logic, and parentheticals. Oops. I mean “I need to lose the long sentences.” — Krissa Swain Randolph
Focus on writing over results
For me it would have to be constant stat checking. I want to go to a place where I write because I want to and forget about the results. — Sam H Arnold
Be brave
Continue to learn to write with authenticity, and to worry less about how I will be judged for doing so. To have more courage in my writing. — Sarah J Clarke
Own it
Indecisiveness… Actually, I don’t know — Charlie Gray (Music)
Mix it up
Repeating the same words too closely “Her stormy dark eyes reminded me of the Arizona storms back home, dark and stormy.” — S.R.
Add a review pass
I don’t take the extra time to double check definitions, I should though. I also need to take more time editing my writing and making sure it’s okay before hitting publish. — Just Ghost Bunny
Practice patience
I need to lose my impatience. I want to write a beautiful article, but I have a hard time going back through multiple times to tidy up any loose ends. I am a glutton for instant gratification. I feel like I should meditate after I write a post. And then again, each time I edit and review it. We’ll see how that works out in my “spring cleaning”. lol — Sarah Jean
Know when less is more
Writing long-form articles. It seems counter-intuitive because I’ve heard from many writers that they struggle with long-form. But me? I love going into depth. I love diving deep into the rabbit hole and viewing a problem from all possible perspectives. The problem? It’s not always necessary. Many times, I noticed, the core of an idea can be expressed in three concise paragraphs. Even if there are more things worth saying — the less words, the more value every word holds. And here’s another issue: I’ve made myself believe that writing an article must be this huge project, demanding many hours until I can hit publish. So when I just wanna share one simple idea, I have to break through a brick wall of resistance.
As you can see, I’m already rambling. So let’s try this again:
I want to banish my weird addiction to writing long-form content. I’ll mix things up by crafting short and sweet essays. Because less words carry more value. — Leo Sharp
Move it out of your head and onto the page
Sometimes, I overthink things and ideas way too much. Most ideas for content in my head never makes it to paper, I mean, my phone screen. — Ruth Torty
Perfection is the enemy of the deadline
There is one rule I learnt during college ‘When you give is more important than what you give’. Going a couple of extra miles for perfection at the cost of deadlines is a not a right thing. Not prioritising delivery on time is something I want to lose. — Srinath Nalluri
Assemble a target list
Run on sentences. Go on and on. Laziness. Set up a routine and be vigilant about it. Be okay with “killing my darlings” save for something else. I think that’s 4. — Nancy Mindes
Better out than in
Fussing too much over perfectionism because it makes writing, a form of productive procrastination. Taking Grammarly, ProWritingAid and Hemingway suggestions to the heart. I guess I need to stop worrying too much and just take the plunge. Only to look back at the article after it’s been published.
Writing is my way of coping with stress. It shouldn’t be adding the latter to my life. — Dr. Shruti
