4 Perfect Ways To Polish Your Imperfect Writing

Before you’re a writer, you’re a reader.

Who doesn’t want to become famous, run to a TEDx conference and sell your books like a bakery sells hot pastries?

We all want to.

But writing is not easy. Instead, writing is ugly and imperfect enough to make you hate it.

Most writers like Leo Tolstoy and Hemingway weren’t born prodigies. Later in life, Leo and Hemingway understood that dedication can help you accomplish peaks. An effort at the right time and place can make things perfect for anyone.

Writing is the same.

You must match the perfect ingredients (time+effort) to become a veteran in the field. But let me tell you one thing: all the career paths in this world are ugly.

When Instagram shows you cars, girls, and clubs as part of success, it’s a lie. A successful life is like going home and not having to worry about bringing food to the table.

That’s why Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos enjoy scrubbing the dishes every night before sleeping.

“Effort and time” is always the art of the game. If you’re here to get rid of it, you’ve read the wrong definition of success.

If you’re a writer, below are four 4 ways to polish imperfect writing and use your time and effort well.

Let’s get started.

1. Keep your notebook open

Every writer was once a reader.

Now, you’re no longer the reader who flips pages, judges characters, and zones out in the story’s climax. When you wear a writing cape, you’ve to think like a reader.

You must give your readers something to hate, love, and talk about. How is that possible?

For that, keep your notebook open.

Start learning and reading new things that you don’t. You’ll have difficulty discovering new things if you have never explored them. For the sake of readers, try new things.

Colleen Hoover’s books have exceptional content, which proves extra effort is being put into them. For that, you need to have unique qualities which you can get from reading and learning.

For a quick start, you can learn/read new things using the following methods:

• Bibliomancy: go to your nearest library, pick a book and open a page you like. Now read what’s on the page.
• Youtube shorts: as much as I dislike social media, it’s also a great tool to energize your brain and provide good content.
• Dictionary: instead of listening to the news, try learning new words/meanings using the dictionary apps.

Use the methods above to always stay on the learning yacht.

2. Invest in proofreaders

Proofreaders go by fancy names, such as:

• Editor
• Copy reader
• Beta reader

The best way to go through your articles is to do it yourself.

Not long ago, a bunch of people were assigned to pass one newspaper to another after reading it.

Now you can replace the effort using AI tools. With the correct AI tools, you can cover the work of at least 4–5 people reading your article. Now, I am not in favor of paid apps.

The reason? The apps are not human, and no one can provide 100% clarity to your content except yourself. If you’re looking to invest some coins, buy the Grammarly premium. Except that every other AI editing app’s premium version is fruitless.

Using many tools simultaneously might also whip your brain—for example, Grammarly and ProWriting aid together give a disastrous feeling. For that reason, experiment with AI editing tools.

The cherry on top is when you edit your article the same day you wrote them and invest another day to final proofread and send it to publication/submit.

For this, use my collection of tools that I use every time:

• Grammarly (premium): Grammarly helps to squeeze (concise) your writing by providing relevant words.
• Pro writing aid: helps to take a closer view of the passive voice, dangling modifiers, and wrong spelling words.
• Hemmingway Editor: check the grade and make sure to remove mistakes and achieve a higher rate.
• Word tune: re-edit sentences using the available options.
• Sapling: drop-down suggestions for wrong words and check all the suggestions with the free mode.

3. Keep a format handy

Writing is not your typical wardrobe.

You cannot go ahead and experiment with your:

• Writing formats
• Home page
• Feed
• Language

Why? Because readers address your writing style, which gives them a comfort zone to read. Change how you look, and you’ll lose your readers before long.

The reason? Readers don’t know you.

The only possible way to make an impression and maintain a footprint is to have a simple writing style.

For that, keep the same format.

I follow the same technique, and you’ll notice that most of my writing has the same title font, same ending, and exact formatting.

This shows that a writer is sincere, full-grown, and mature, and all he says comes directly from his heart.

Another reason is that when you change your writing, you introduce your efforts into the wrong domain. When you can put effort into writing quality articles, refrain from experimenting with formats.

Instead:

• Find a suitable format
• Don’t change until you want to
• Keep it simple and sweet

4. Plan like a pro

90% of writing isn’t writing.

Meaning that writing is a process that contains the following:

• Research
• Listicles
• Image
• Headline
• If you want to tag someone (optional)
• Final thoughts
• Climax

You cannot build your articles 10 minutes before writing — you need a mindset.

With planning, you can end wasting your time and put your effort into the right place. For that reason, plan a day before. Now, this is all a natural process.

Open a blog, find a headline and see how it resonates with you. Put a spark of your experience and imagination and create a headline.

I do most of my writing rehearsal 40 minutes before sleeping. When I wake up, I remember chunks of information from my sleep. To plan like a pro, give your writing rehearsal some time.

The best way to make the most out of writing rehearsal is:

• Record your voice: if you’re half asleep and have a lot on your mind, record it.
• Write it down: keep a spare notebook and write it down.
• Tell it to someone: if a sister is sleeping or your partner is beside you, tell them to hold some information for you.

Practice these techniques to make your writing effortless.

Final thoughts:

Writing is not at all imperfect.

It’s we who have made things complicated.

Make your writing easy and perfect using the right strategies at the right time.

Of course, some people make eight figures with writing. You can only reach that position if you stop calling writing lazy and imbecile.

Instead, change yourself to change the world around you.