Move Fast, Slow Down, Read Aloud

Three things that will make your work better--instantly

The assignment was to write a pitch and a magazine article.

We had eight weeks to get it done. But, the professor, herself a successful magazine writer, gave us a specific timeline that she expected us to follow.

Four weeks to research and write the 1,500-word piece.

Two weeks to let it sit.

Then two weeks to go back in rewrite, revise, and edit.

But I was stuck on the two-weeks-to-let-it-sit part. Did she mean to let it sit and do nothing on the piece?

Yep.

And it’s a lesson that I’ve practiced ever since.

Now, a “chill” period is part of my regular writing routine and I think it should be part of yours too.

Three Things to Make Your Writing Better

Ultimately, we want our work to be clear, compelling and understood. We want it to be publishable, and meaningful to the readers. There are three things I do that help me get closer to those goals.

You can learn more about them in this Simply Write w/ Polly episode, where I cover some of the non-writing techniques that improve my work.

Here’s a taste of what I’m talking about, to whet your appetite.

Create a Quick Draft.

Get it out. Don’t edit. After you’ve done the research or outlining or whatever you do in your process, get the stuff out

Let it Chill.

Turns out the professor’s advice was right. When you let your work chill for a couple of days or weeks, it always becomes better.

Read Aloud (to yourself).

Print the baby out. Sit down with the papers in hand, and read the entire doc out loud to yourself. Seriously. Just do it. The whole thing. Our writing looks too good on the screen and it’s easy to miss continuity details and structural elements, misspellings, fragments, and other messes in the prose. Those things show up like flashing red lights when we read our work aloud.

-p