Working at Writing

There are no shortcuts in writing. As time-consuming and frustrating as writing can be, there is no easy way out. To make a piece of writing work, you simply must work at it, persistently and thoroughly. You have to take the time and make the effort if you want your writing to be effective. Beginning writers, especially, often look for a quick and easy fix to their writing problems. Instead of taking the time to start over from scratch, if that's what's needed, they attempt to apply bandaid fixes to the structural problems in their writing, and most of the time end up making their writing worse. Writing that has been "edited" in this shortcut style sticks out like a sore thumb to readers and turns them off. Writing that has been reworked carefully and thoroughly, on the other hand, will read seamlessly to readers, as if it had never been edited at all. The irony is that writing that reads effortlessly takes great effort to write. Accomplished writers know this. They know, when they take on a writing project, that they're in it for the long haul. And they embrace this process, welcoming the struggle and the process, not looking for ways around it. Know this about your writing: It will never be great unless you're willing to put in great effort. In writing, as with everything else, you can only reap what you sow.