Not Doing This Zero-Effort Writing Trick Is Costing You Money
Years ago, when I was starting out as a writer, I was preoccupied with one thing and one thing only: scale. I was single-handedly focused on writing as many stories as possible as fast as I could, simply because I thought that was the track toward a stable career. As long as I had coffee and a few hours of quiet on my side, I could pump out at least two stories a day. I did exactly that for quite some time — even on weekends.
There’s a lot of advice out there about how to make it as a writer, and I want to dispel a lot of the ones I see:
You don’t have to wake up early to be a successful writer. Write whenever you are most awake, and remember there’s no shame in your night-owl game.
You don’t have to have a built-in audience to grow your brand. As long as you write consistently and cleanly, your career will grow.
And finally, particularly for the purposes of this essay, you don’t have to write as much content as possible. The opposite is often true: Quality beats out quantity.
Yes, it is important to map out a ladder of your own making in any career, and doing so as a self-employed writer is as necessary as a blank page. You should be figuring out how to ascend the ranks and grow your network in order to contribute to recognizable publications and/or get paid well, but the best way to do that isn’t by throwing words down and hitting “publish” in record time. In fact, the best thing you can do for your writing is to take it somewhat slow.
The zero-effort trick you should be doing every time you finish a story is this: You have to let it breathe.
It isn’t wise to take most life advice from Ernest Hemingway, but since he almost certainly popped into your head as an accomplished writer, this is why I’m bringing him up. Hemingway famously let his manuscripts “breathe,” in which he stepped away from them for days or weeks at a time, only to return at a later date. It may seem counterintuitive for an era built on speed, but here’s why it’s so important:
Letting your writing rest allows you to collect your thoughts off the page. When you come back to your work, you’ll most likely have a more interesting or clearer take on it. Plus, you’ll probably notice any typos or errors.
As writers, sometimes we get ahead of ourselves. We think that our first draft is strong even when it needs help. We see a looming deadline and wait until the last second to meet it. And we have a hard time self-editing. Don’t fall for any of this — your career depends on it.
Start building a muscle each time you write something that makes “a breather” part of the process. Here’s how it goes:
Start writing at least a few days before your deadline.
Don’t edit as you write, just get it down. Once it’s finished, then…
Edit your piece.
Wait at least 24 hours to look at it. The longer or more complex the story is, the more wait time it deserves.
Read it over completely, and assess its strengths and weaknesses. Add and delete with the intention of making it stronger. Yes, your work is great, but it could always use some pruning.
Letting your writing breathe, and working that resting phase into your writing process, will undoubtedly make you a better writer. And down the line, you’ll be able to think more comprehensively as you work — almost like “breathing” before you actually get to that step. It is the easiest way to make you more formidable in this field, and one of the best ways to ensure that your work earns more money over time.
This post originally appeared on Medium, where I sometimes write between deadlines.
