Writing Secret 9: Keep Your Writing Clean As You Write

Writing Secret 9: Keep Your Writing Clean As You Write

Some writers suggest you write sloppy, “vomiting” the words onto the page. They think all writers need to start with “shitty first drafts.”

But sloppy writing means you need several drafts to clean up the sloppiness. To me, that's like waiting until the end of coding to write and run any tests at all. (Been there, done that, have the gray hair.)

Worse, these words tell you that you are a terrible writer.

Instead of creating a terrible draft or thinking you're a terrible writer, you can keep your writing clean as you go. And when you do, you might think and learn faster.

How excited are you to go to the keyboard when you describe it in words such as sloppy, vomit, or poop?

Words Reinforce How We Feel and What We Do

Think about these words:

• Sloppy writing
• Vomiting words onto a page
• “Shitty” first draft

If you write like that, what happens? You might edit as you proceed. Or, interrupt yourself with yet more words.

How easy is it for you to finish a piece? In my experience, sloppy writing means sloppy thinking and learning—an essential part of nonfiction writing.

And sloppy writing means you must edit—probably way too early.

And who likes the smell of vomit or poop? I certainly do not! Why would I use those words to describe my writing efforts?

Now, contrast that with these words:

• Clean writing
• Integrate thinking and learning.
• Cycling to clarify ideas

When I write clean, I often need to cycle to clarify the ideas, but not the words. I can finish faster—because I'm integrating my thinking and learning.

I feel great about my work.

Best of all, I can wait to edit until the end, when I don't have much to edit.

I like cleanliness, learning, and integrating my thinking and learning as I proceed. That's the essence of a lot of effective product development.

If this sounds like what you want to do, learn and practice with me in my upcoming writing workshop.

Practice How You Want to Write

If you really enjoy sloppy writing or vomiting words onto a page, okay. I wish you much writing success.

But if you wish you could write faster and better, and not spend nearly as much time on editing, please join me in the Q2 2023 writing workshop. (That's the main workshop page.)

You'll learn to write clean and feel good about everything you write. Because writing clean is part of writing fast, you can finish faster.

I focus this workshop on shorter pieces, but if you're writing a book, the same ideas apply to chapters.

Free your inner nonfiction writer. Learn to write clean and fast—and enjoy it! I hope to see you there.

See all the posts in this intermittent series of “writing secrets.”