Frictionless Writing About the Friction of Writing

Your writing is never as good as you’d like it to be

Writing is hard.

Who knew it would be so difficult to express oneself in written word form?

I thought it would just be like speaking. I believed I could just transfer my thoughts onto paper seamlessly. I mean, it’s possible, right? But it would be as disjointed, repetitive, and non-linear as my speech.

So here’s an experiment.

I will do my best not over-edit this piece. I won’t follow any particular structure. I don’t have any subheadings in mind, I don’t even have any fully formed ideas.

Will it be useless garbage?

Well, yes and no.

It should demonstrate that even when done unintentionally, there are pros and cons of having such a loose approach to writing. I have a strong desire to write prolifically in a way that adds value to readers. Currently, I either take too much time to write a meaningful piece, or I rush and don’t write meaningfully enough.

I’m still trying to find a balance.

On some level, I believe that working on both quantity and quality simultaneously, or separately, isn’t going to make much of a difference long term. Both should get me where I want to be eventually. Most of us just need the practice.

The following points are some of the causes of friction when it comes to writing for me personally. Perhaps they impede you too.

• What is the impact the piece will have on the reader?
• Am I writing for myself or for the reader? (My bad, it’s usually for me)
• Is the idea original? Does it have to be? (It doesn’t)
• Does this piece fit with my brand/niche? Are my loyal readers going to enjoy it or feel like I’ve thrown them a curveball?
• Is it engaging, informative, relatable, or entertaining?
• Who cares?

It’s both constructive self-criticism and procrastination. It impedes but it refines. However, I think there is a fatal flaw in that way of thinking. Who are we to judge what readers enjoy? It’s possible our slightly different take on the same issue resonates more with the reader. Maybe we have better context, more relatable experiences, or whatever.

As for dealing with the perfectionist that exists inside us, I can only believe that our writing will improve over time through practice. No matter how well you write, you may never think you are quite there yet. There is always something to improve. There will always be someone who writes better than you. But it doesn’t matter.

What matters is getting your work out there, getting feedback, and refining it over time.