The Best Way to Tell if You’re Improving as a Writer
Let’s see if you’re writing is getting sexy.
I’m covered in semen.
I’ve made love to my writing as much as possible. You’d think after the 300th time, it’d privy up to your body a bit and show some pleasure. It seems like my writing would rather leave me high and dry because I’m so bad at…yeah.
Am I truly improving as a writer, or am I heading towards a disastrous relationship that’ll end in turmoil if I keep forcing it?
Grammarly is a horrendous lubricant.
When I envision myself as a superstar writer, getting a perfect Grammarly score on all of my pieces is an underlying code I’ve yet to crack.
I mean, I’ve improved on Grammarly over the past few months of relentless writing. I used to get around an 80 Grammarly score — now I get somewhere in the high 80s low 90s range. Pretty cool for someone who still considers themselves a newbie.
Heck, I used to have a slew of punctuation errors and run-on sentences that lasted for eons and eons and eons but I just couldn’t help myself. Pause.
But is Grammarly a true sign of writing improvement?
I’m no Grammarly expert but…sometimes?
It’s no doubt an amazing editing tool that gives writers great tips to improve their content. I used to copy and paste all of my writing into Grammarly and try my best to get a high score. Now I just let it be like The Beatles.
I’ve had sucky articles that barely got an 80 on Grammarly turn into my most popular articles.
So if you want Grammarly to give you a decent lubricant, let me just tell you, it’s a hit or miss. You could have an amazing article without it being a grammatic golden child. Sometimes it’s the ugliest ducklings that swim the best.
Don’t put all your eggs in Grammarly, it’s not the god of quality writing.
Headlines are broken vibrators for your audience.
AHEM…
Are you struggling to get a girlfriend?
Are you a loser that yearns for a successful life?
Are you beyond mentally challenged to the point where you need a therapist?
Read this article called “100 Ways to Get a Girlfriend, Build a Successful Business, and Be Mentally Tough in 5 Minutes” and I guarantee it will work for you or you’ll get your money back.
Scene.
I know I’m going to sound counterintuitive here, but headlines can be a huge pain in the you know what. That’s why they’re terrible vibrators. It’s almost like you have to write 20 headlines and become a telethon seller just to get someone to click on your article. Well fine. I’ve tried it.
While my headlines have gotten significantly better with practice, it doesn’t excuse crappy writing.
Some writers stress the importance of headlines a little too much. I could have an amazing marketing strategy for silver toothpicks, but that doesn’t mean people will buy the toothpicks. There’s a difference between spreading awareness and getting people to buy what you’re selling.
Headlines aren’t the best signs of writing improvement.
Just because someone comes up with a brilliant headline doesn’t mean people will read the article all the way through. Sometimes the actual body of your article is way more important than your click-through rate.
Coming up with great headlines helps, but it won’t save you from bad writing.
Studying other writers just puts a wrench through your erection.
Whenever you read writers like Stephen King or Ryan Holiday, they just make you cackle at your own writing. They put a huge bummer on your self-esteem. Thanks, Ryan (sarcastically)! How are you supposed to make adequate love to your writing if a better writer is towering over you?
After studying my favorite writers, I’ve learned these three key lessons:
- You have to write every day
- You have to write every day
- …You have to write every day
Well, thanks for that, but it can’t be that simple. There has to be some sort of Krabby Patty formula they’re using that they don’t want to share with others. They have to be lying.
Is writing consistently the best sign of writing improvement?
No.
It can’t be. I write every single day and I’m still not seeing results. Even Ayodeji Awosika once said that practicing every day doesn’t mean you’re doing it effectively. You can practice and have it all be for nothing.
So how?!
How can I tell if I’m improving as a writer if there’s no good lube, I have a broken vibrator, and my erection crashed down?
Well, this is the point in the article where I stop bullshitting you with sex terms and tell you that there’s an invisible indicator of writing improvement — writing consistently.
You can’t wrap your head around it because you just don’t see it yet. Your mind is focused on quick fixes for your writing that can blast you to the top in three months. The world of writing doesn’t work that way.
You will get better at writing if you write every day. Just because you can’t see it now, doesn’t mean you’re not improving. It takes baby steps.
Final Thoughts
You are improving as a writer little by little because you write every day.
You don’t need a Krabby Patty formula or some sacred lube to improve at your craft, you just have to do it. Here’s a quote from Nicolas Cole that’ll give you more hope:
“Volume always wins.”
Get my free writing guide that can teach you how to build a writing habit in 90 days or less here.