Editor’s Choice — Top 10: How to Approach Tough Decisions in Your Writing

Read these Top 10 writers to learn how they make their decisions

You don’t have to invent everything when you start writing.

Do some research. Some other writer must have written something about the topic you have chosen. The internet must be your starting point.

But if you want to write an excellent story, you have to make tough decisions. From writing a headline that grabs your reader’s attention to what you write in the body and how you end your story — are all hard choices if you want your readers to read from start to end.

As a writer, every decision you make is a difficult one. Should I remove this paragraph? Should I add a reference to a book or a research? Which research would be the best choice? How do I connect different sections that the logic of the story flows smoothly? Should I leave this story at this time to have another look after a day or two?

After you have written the first draft, you have to edit it. It is the hardest part. Every sentence needs more work. As William Zinsser wrote in his book, On Writing Well, “Writing is hard work. A clear sentence is no accident. Very few sentences come out right the first time or even the third time. Remember this in moments of despair. If you find that writing is hard, it’s because it is hard.”

When you finish editing, you are faced with the most important question: Where should I publish it? Which publication would be a better home for this story? Would they select it? How long would they take before they feature it?

Sometimes, your editing never finishes. You start adding new paragraphs and research references until the logic of your article becomes convoluted. You try to patch logic, you add new sentences, but then you quit. You think you can do it later. And then you forget, or the story seems even more twisted than when you stopped editing it.

But the best way to handle these hard decisions is to sit and work on them. Spend time with your story and feel what makes more sense.

Here is a writing prompt for all of you: Pick a day when you made a tough decision about writing — choosing a headline, quitting a story without finishing it, deciding to steal an idea, deciding to write something you didn’t wish to write, etc. Now write about how you handled the situation and what if you chose to make the opposite decision. Write what other writers could learn from your experience.

Read these top 10 writers who made the right decisions to create their masterpieces:

10. To Expand Your Horizons, You Must Grow Your Language

Louis Petrik loves to write about anything. He is an excellent writer and you must follow him. His style is informative and engaging. Don’t miss this masterpiece.

The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.

With this statement from his first major work, “Tractatus logico-philosophicus,” in particular, he gets to the heart of language’s meaning.

Such a simple yet meaningful sentence. It offers a lot of room for interpretation. I always understand him quite practically — what he means by “world,” I understand as follows:

The world of language can be roughly broken down into listening and speaking. I myself can communicate with the rest of the world, thanks to language. Likewise, I can hear and understand what others say.

9. Re-Examining The Matrix 20 Years Later

Aaron Meacham loves Kurt Vonnegut and cold brew coffee. He is a superb writer. In this fine story, he is re-examining The Matrix. You’ll enjoy reading this piece.

When The Matrix released in March 1999, it warped pop culture and the blockbuster film industry around its presence. Its blend of science fiction, technology, and philosophy would go on to have lasting impacts, despite the disappointing attempts of writer/director siblings The Wachowskis to recapture lighting in the subsequent bottles of The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions.

The gravity of the sequels pulls conversations about the series in a very particular direction, which I hope to ignore(as much as possible) to focus on the self-contained narrative of The Matrix, with its dominating themes of reality, self, and technology.

8. Music Festivals — An Essential Experience Of Love

Jaivir Hans is a curious human being and an exceptional writer.

Why are we drawn to music festivals in wildly large scores of collectives? Why do we, as a species, love banding for and bonding to organized — and sometimes disorganized — styles of music?

What is it about groups of people converging at a certain spot to listen to, dance to, sing to beats, lyrics, and symphonies of various types, whereby a largely homogeneous source of stimuli bursts open a floodgate of love, joy, and camaraderie?

7. Lana Del Rey and her Affinity for the American Aesthetic

Mallika Vasak loves classical literature, red wine, and believes in magic.

Although Donald Trump’s presidency prompted Lana Del Rey to abandon the American flag as a part of her visual identity, her aesthetic is still built around American nostalgia. Since her debut Born to Die, Del Rey has played with visuals inherent to American culture in her videos, and murmured lyrical musings of the American dream in which she reaches towards a glamourous future while still doting on the past.

She embodies the sublime feeling of the Sunshine State in “West Coast”, plays the Kennedys alongside A$AP Rocky in “National Anthem”, embraces a bad boy in front of the American flag in “Born to Die”, and then blankets herself in it in “Ride”.

6. Why I Support BTS Even Though I Don’t Like Their Music

Midori Writes well and lives intentionally. She is an excellent writer. She is sharing her opinions about BTS and why she doesn’t appreciate their music. If you like music, you may wish to read it.

There’s no way I would know whether the above picture is truly BTS or not. For me, the current Korean boy bands all look so similar to me(and I’m Chinese). Sorry to all BTS fans, I might be still stuck in the Big Bang era.

I also can’t appreciate their music at all. I don’t understand what’s so exceptional about the single Dynamite that it can stay at the top of the Billboard for so many weeks. I watched their live performance on Stephen Colbert’s show and I enjoyed their dancing though.

5. Goats, Entrepreneurship, and Ikigia

Julee Everett is a writer and an observer. She can’t pass a good cup of coffee. She is a superb writer. Her style is engaging and smooth. Don’t miss this masterpiece.

Lora Soderquist lives outside Bozeman, Montana. Driven to provide community and environmental impact, she is grounded in her connection to the land and people around her. Her choices revolve around the best life she can provide for her son, Jack.

When Lora became a single parent, she stood at a crossroads with which many of us are familiar. Her life had just taken an unexpected turn. She had one critical mission: How could she provide financially for her son and still spend quality time with him?

4. 5 Lessons From ‘The Pursuit Of Happyness’ That Everyone Should Know

Varun Joshi is a software engineer turned writer. His style is inquisitive, informative, and thought-provoking. If you read this story, you may like to check his other work.

Happiness is a weird feeling. You can’t really measure how happy you are, you can’t put a unit on it, but you can feel it. You can share your happiness with your loved ones, and in most cases, you make them happier as well!

Even then, how many people really achieve that awesome, blissful state? How many can honestly say they are happy in their life?

3. Who Are We Behind Our Masks?

Beth Bradford, Ph.D. is a former TV person and a current college professor. She is an excellent writer. Her style is infinitely engaging. Please follow her and check her other work. If you like her style, you’d be waiting for her future writing.

One of my former students, a popular Instagram figure, had painted beautiful murals on the walls of her apartment. When it was time for her to move out, she had to repaint the walls white.

Although it somewhat pained her to cover her beloved lion mural, she gave her viewers a lesson in non-attachment. “The lion is still there, knocking around,” she said. “He’s just wearing a mask.” However, we do this ourselves throughout our lives, painting various layers over our true selves.

2. How to be Master of your Anger

DISHA GARG thrives on learning and loves to write about mindfulness. She is a good writer and she has some fascinating thoughts to share with her readers.

There was a time when I was exploring the emotion called Anger in myself. I came across an article by Shona Keachie. I loved the way anger was rightfully expressed as a double-edged sword.

It’s been a year, and I feel I can add my learning and let others read my thoughts too.

1. The Truth About Our Own Ignorance, the Lies We Tell Ourselves, and the Meaning of Real Wisdom

At number one, it’s Dawn Bevier. She is a teacher and an excellent writer. If you like her style, do check her other work.

Socrates said, “The only true wisdom is knowing you know nothing.” And I’m pretty sure no truer words have ever been spoken.

The truth is we excel at being ignorant. It’s our greatest “strength” as members of the human race. And that, my friends, is a sad, sad fact.

Why?

Because our ignorance, lies, and deceptions are keeping us from successful relationships, keeping us from personal growth, and keeping us from seeing the truth about our own identity, the identities of others, and our world as a whole.

Final Thoughts

If your story was selected as one of the Top 10, please share another one of your stories in the comments with a brief introduction and a short review that can convince a reader to read your piece. (Please write the review in the third person and start it with your name.)

I must have missed something today. I cannot read every story on Illumination and Illumination-Curated. Dr Mehmet Yildiz, the Chief Editor and Founder of Illumination and Illumination-Curated, read, highlighted, and applauded every good story when he started his publications. He still reads almost all of the good ones. I try — and fail daily — to read all of the masterpieces.

So, help me. Help me to find and rank the best work of the writers of Illumination and Illumination-Curated.

Happy reading.

To improve your chances of success as a writer, read these highly recommended curation guidelines:

You can read my curated stories here.