Writerly Intuition: The Most Important Writing Skill You Haven’t Been Taught

Sometimes when I am writing a novel, or chapter, or scene, or sentence, I’ll get a feeling. It’s a niggling sense that SOMETHING is off. To the untrained eye, this character, or scene, or chapter is okay. The writing itself maybe even good. But YOU sense that it isn’t…right.

For a long time, I ignored these little feelings. I couldn’t articulate what was “off.” I’d think: Maybe it’s just me. Or: How can I fix this? (But the way I’d fix it was superficial, it was never getting to the root of the problem.)

This little feeling is what I call Writerly Intuition. And it’s something I’ve learned to pay attention to in the last few years. It’s not a skill you develop overnight, but it can be developed.

What do I mean by writerly intuition? Well, basically, all I mean is having a sense that something is off. You might not know what it is right away, but as you continue to read and write, you’ll develop this sense.

How is this different from self-doubt as a writer? It is TOTALLY different from self-doubt. This “feeling that something is off” I’m talking about here does NOT refer to feelings of low self-esteem. The feelings I’m talking about are about the work, not you. So don’t use this as an excuse to procrastinate!