Producing Versus Publishing: Why Writing Every Day Doesn’t Mean I Have to Publish Every Day
I enjoy writing. I imagine this doesn’t count as a shock seeing that I’m publishing on a writing platform. If it does, then perhaps you need to check what platform you’re on.
Over time, I have come to relish the opportunity to share what I think on Medium. When I write, I declutter the chaos in my head.
I want to be successful and respected as a writer. In my pursuit of success and respect, I have encountered an interesting conundrum. Almost all the advice about being a more successful writer includes the advice to write every day. I still believe this is good advice; however, I conflated this good advice as implying that I have to publish every day.
Social media and the internet has made the world go faster. Information, more than I can hope to read, is delivered at the speed of light. We are drowning in information. Clearly, quantity isn’t the problem.
Given the gluttony of information similar to mine, the only answer is to deliver more value.
Thankfully I’m slowly realizing taking more time to ensure my work is my best is a better use of everyone’s time. In this essay to myself, I step through why it’s required to write, but not publish, daily.
Writing Everyday is Required
If you want to be successful and expert in any craft, daily practice is non-negotiable. Writing is no exception to this rule.
It sounds easy to simply sit down and write and edit, but easier said than done.
Some days as I’m slaving away at my laptop it seems like the words won’t come. I pick a topic that I feel interested in but draw a blank. I look a little like a deer in headlights. Where I originally expected inspiration, I find the agony of a small cursor blinking back unabashedly at me.
In these moments I plea for self-typing keys. My request has so far gone unanswered.
I have slowly reaped rewards from powering through difficulties. I’m able to sit at the keyboard longer and type or edit more words. At first, writing 300 words in one sitting was painful. Now, I can comfortably write about 1000 words in a one-hour sitting.
In addition to being able to produce more words, I’m slowly improving my ability to communicate ideas clearly. Prior to adopting a daily writing practice, my co-workers and boss would often stare at me with a blank expression. I was the epitome of an inept communicator.
My inability to communicate clearly was hilariously on display during a team-building exercise. I tried to instruct a couple of my co-workers on how to draw a grapevine. Instead, my instructions led them to draw a clown car.
Daily writing has also begun to improve my personal life. Writing is an escape for me. Creating order from the chaos of my mind is satisfying. Aside from learning how to communicate better, I get the added benefit of a daily therapy session at a fraction of the price!
My Problem with Constant Production
When I write daily, I develop the habit of producing. Currently, I’m training myself to have the discipline required to sit down and work at something. I’m not as focused on a consistent volume or the quality of work I’m producing.
My inconsistency in volume with disregard for quality creates a problem. Although I’m improving the skill of writing, at least in terms of structuring words in a semi-coherent fashion, I’m not improving my ability to convey ideas clearly.
I am frustrated with my lack of improvement. Like most writers, my first drafts are meandering and incoherent. Until recently, my solution was to edit as I wrote. I can produce a semi-passible article daily in this fashion but feel creatively bankrupt.
Writing’s primary goal is to convey entertaining or useful ideas into the head of another. Splitting my time between editing and writing results in an article that does neither well.
I realize I need to find a better way. I love watching Mike Boyd, Alec Steele, and reading Mark Manson’s. I admire each of these creators and want to emulate the best parts of their content. I also just realized none of these guys publish daily.
Mike, Alec, and Mark all publish on a frequent basis, but not on a daily basis. Although I can’t speak for them, I think they’ve discovered producing valuable things takes time. They produce content every day, but a lot of their work is in private. Skilled creators present their work to their audience when their product is good enough.
Editing is Different than Writing
This brings me to the next point. Although it’s all good and well to have a basic shape of a pot, it’s useless unless it’s well shaped and solidly designed. The art of making the overall pot and detailing the artwork are two separate steps. Similarly, writing and editing should be thought of in the same way.
In my previous attempts to publish every day I was mixing the two steps. Although this could be beneficial, there are several problems with this approach. The biggest issue is that when I’m writing and editing at the same time, I know what I meant, so I miss glaring errors.
When I look back at some of the pieces I have published on this platform, I want to apologize to everyone who read them. The flows are largely inconsistent, the sentences to complex, the ideas not valuable enough.
I see flaws in hindsight because I’m looking at the piece as a reader, not the guy who just made it. I have no problem ripping an anonymous piece of text to shreds. In fact, I love the idea of taking something raw and molding it into a more complete state.
When I’m editing my recent writing I’m still attached to the work. I don’t want to kill my darlings because obviously they’re perfect and don’t need to be changed (heavy sarcasm implied.) I’m less ruthless and analytical about my own work than my readers deserve.
Publishing is Presenting my Best
We edit because we are imperfect creatures doing imperfect things. Although we’ll never reach a “perfect” piece, we approach perfection with each iteration. Separating the writing and editing process allows for multiple iterations, thus improving the overall product.
When I publish, I want to know I presented the best work I could possibly do in a reasonable amount of time. So far, there have been times where I have, to my shame, published knowing an article needed more work, but I needed to hit my daily quota so it would have to do.
Although focusing on producing helped me get started, I need to shift this belief to become better at what I do. I will still write every day, I have to in order to keep sharp and reduce my resistance to writing. I won’t publish every day.
By not publishing every day, I can spend more time improving the quality of my writing and published article. I believe this is the best way for me to create something of value given my current skill and goals.
