Summary

The author discusses the importance of simplifying one's writing for better clarity and efficiency, and proposes three methods to achieve this along with a challenge for other writers.

Abstract

The article titled "Allow Yourself To Simplify Your Writing And See What Happens" emphasizes the benefits of simplifying writing processes. The author, having recently deleted overly complex posts, advocates for a more streamlined approach to writing. Drawing from personal experience of losing a paid writing gig, the author suggests that writers can reduce stress and improve their work by adopting simpler practices. The piece outlines three specific strategies: writing a comprehensive article and breaking it into smaller posts throughout the week, focusing on short-form content that is more likely to be fully read, and limiting writing to three or fewer topics to maintain focus and impact. The author also issues a "Simplify Writing Challenge" for the month of September, inviting writers to choose one of the suggested strategies and share their experiences.

Opinions

The author believes that complicating writing unnecessarily is a common pitfall that many writers, including themselves, fall into.
They express that simplifying writing can lead to increased productivity and less stress, as experienced after the end of their contract with NewsBreak.
The author suggests that writers often spread themselves too thin by engaging in too many projects, which can dilute the quality and focus of their work.
They posit that writing one major article and then creating smaller posts from it can make the writing process more efficient and allow for greater depth on a topic.
The author holds the opinion that short posts can be more effective than longer ones, as they can be more impactful and are likely to be read in full.
They emphasize the importance of limiting the number of topics one writes about to maintain clarity and purpose in one's writing.
The author is enthusiastic about the potential benefits of the "Simplify Writing Challenge" and encourages participation and community engagement through sharing experiences and outcomes.

Allow Yourself To Simplify Your Writing And See What Happens

It’s time to add by subtraction

“Life is simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” — Confuscious

We have all heard this quote before. Yet, we continue to make things more complicated. Whether it is with our work, family, or other relationships we find ourselves making things harder.

This morning, I deleted four posts that I had written. They were extremely complicated, long-winded, and not within my scope of typical writing. So, I deleted them and went back to the blank page.

Simplifying Our Writing

Photo by Ashley West Edwards on Unsplash

NewsBreak finally told me I wasn’t going to keep getting paid with the base pay platform. I know that I made it longer than most writers from Medium and I’m thankful for the extra month of pay. But it was making life hard.

I was writing a ton of articles about restaurants in my area. It was a nightmare to crank out 25 posts like this a month. But the pay was good and it helped fund some other projects I have been trying to do for a while.

Yet, now that it is gone, it's time to simplify a little more again.

After all, I am finding myself so worn out from writing all those articles, trying to create something new (my YouTube Channel), working on my writing here, and of course my books.

That's why I am glad to simplify my life by getting rid of one more writing project. Even if it was a moneymaker for a while. While I was thinking about that this morning, it made me wonder something.

How many other writers face this problem?

3 Ways Writers Can Simplify Their Lives

After thinking about this a great deal this morning, I realized there are three ways writers can simplify their lives and writing and find major gains. In fact, over the next month, I am going to try and do this and see how it goes.

However, I wanted to share with you three ways to we can simplify our writing for the next month and maybe forever.

№1 — Write One Big Article and then Piece it Out

So, I just got this idea from a YouTuber who said that he has been doing hour-long live YouTube videos, and then he has been editing clips out to be able to post a few more videos each week.

I thought this was a great idea. What if each week this month, I write a long post on writing or faith and publish it at the beginning of the week, and then piece it out with some changes over the week. Maybe it's one more post or two more posts, but not every day.

This makes it easier writing because you're simply editing down additional posts, but staying on topic for a week. This will give you space to think about other things too!

№2 — Write More Short Posts

We can get so caught up in writing these long posts because we want “reading time.” Yet, if no one is reading the full post anyway, why not write shorter ones that people could jump into. This post for example will be skimmed by many.

However, three or four shorter posts might actually get read through completely. So, why not start writing shorter ones. It makes writing posts easier and simplifies the way we publish.

I also think that it will help us learn to be more concise because a lot of online writing needs less in terms of words and more in terms of impact. So, why not make a few short powerful pieces?

№3 — Write on Three or Fewer Topics

In my life, for example, I am going to focus on one new project (my YouTube Channel, please check it out and subscribe), writing consistently here on Medium, and preparing to launch my next book.

I’m not going to try and write articles on LinkedIn, answer questions on Quora, or try and build any kind of weird empire of affiliate marketing on other platforms (though it’s tempting).

In the same way, I think having three or fewer focuses at any given month or quarter will help simplify my writing and yours.

Simplify Writing Challenge

Okay, so I am making this up on the spot, and I am okay with telling you this. But, I want to challenge you to pick one of these ways to simplify your writing and focus on it for the month of September.

Try writing one large piece, publishing it at the beginning of the week, and piece it out over the rest of the week in shorter posts.
Try simply writing more short-form posts, no more than 3-minute reads.
Or, try to focus on three or fewer projects this month.

If you are up for the challenge, share which one you will do below in the responses, and link to your profile or to your project!

I think this can be a lot of fun for us and it can help us simplify our writing so that we can start to grow in new ways. Also, it might take a little stress out of your life as well, remember what Oscar Wilde said:

“Simple pleasures are the last healthy refuge in a complex world.”

If you want to learn how to turn your posts into money-making books, check out my latest little book!