044 • Why I don't try to write good
I love writing for the sake of sharing ideas, not for the sake of getting better at writing. Maybe that will come back to bite me in the future, but for now, it's the truth.
Unfortunately for me, this means I have a hard time being intentional with improving my work.
I'll explain...
When I sit down to write, the only planning I do is a short outline of the content. After that, I go for it.
This means I try and let the idea flow from me as freely as possible. Strategies for audience retention, engagement and more don't come to me as I'm in the flow of writing, because they play second fiddle to transmitting ideas.
If I focused on the strategies I could use to get the audience to keep reading, I'd never get an article out for fear that the piece could be further optimised.
However, I still believe that my work has improved since beginning to write on the internet. It's not been in some measurable way, but measuring hasn’t been my intention at all. Much more important to me (and to the audience, I hope) is showing people what's going on in my head.
I think there's a benefit behind being able to do both of these things - write freely without overthinking strategy, but being able to apply techniques where they're going to enhance the work.
So I use the editing process as my saving grace for this...
I don't do much editing bar simplification and a little spelling and grammar correction (I use Grammarly, but only the non-robotic suggestions), and if I think it’ll enhance the piece, this is the point at which I can be more mindful of the techniques and writing strategy used.
Before this, I just want to get my mind onto the page in the purest way possible. And I find that focusing on ideas rather than strategy helps me do that.
Over time, as I get better at sharing ideas and defining the intention behind my pieces, I trust that the technical quality of the prose will improve too.
Improving my writing by writing instead of learning, if you will.
Have a great week!
What I’ve written this week…
3 Steps for Content Creation PKM + Lessons From Hosting a Workshop - A piece about what I covered in the workshop I wrote about last week. I cover the content of the workshop and then why hosting it was such a valuable experience.
Journal excerpt of the week…
