GET TO THE POINT
We’re all busy. We’re flooded with sensory input and the world de-
mands our attention. Keeping focused on long words, long sen-
tences, long paragraphs, or long books is almost impossible. Do
youlike run-on sentences or complicated phrases? Probably not.
Keep this in mind as you write. Say what you have to say and cut
out any needless words, sentences, and so on.
Write to a child—someone who will listen to you only as long as
you are concise and interesting—and you’ll write to all of us.
DON’T JUDGEYou have no idea whether what you want to write is great or some-
thing less. You can’t be the judge of your own material. Your read-
ers cast the deciding vote, not you. Do the best you can, polish your
writing to the best of your ability, and let your readers decide. And
while they are deciding, keep writing.
Judging your work slows you down. It will sometimes stop you
dead in your tracks. Several times I have begun a piece of writing,
judged it as lousy, and stopped. Weeks or months later I would
stumble across the unfinished work and reread it. It looked good!
It read well and was really going somewhere. Why hadn’t I com-
pleted it? Now it was too late to iron it out because I had lost the
initial momentum. Then I would kick myself all over the room for
notfinishing it!
Since you aren’t buying your writing, let the people who are
judge it. Don’t listen to your Mr. Editor as you write. Your job is to
write. Period.
Got it?
Electrifying Tips for Creating Breakthrough Writing