Write First, Edit Later

Write First, Edit Later Write First, Edit Later Write First, Edit Later By Michael You took too many English classes. Someone has told you that its more important to say it right than to say it at all. Well, it is important to write correctly. It makes your communication clearer, and your reputation brighter. But its usually better to say what you mean poorly than to say nothing. Why? Because once you write it, you can edit it. Or you can ask someone else to. Ernest Hemingway said, The first draft of anything is garbage. Well, garbage wasnt the word he actually used, but you get the idea. If Hemingway, one of the most influential prose writers in the English language, thought that his first drafts were garbage, you should feel just fine if thats what your first draft looks like. Garbage is honorable. Its hard to improve on perfection, but its really easy to improve on garbage. Reading it again will give you all sorts of ideas for improvement. But, you say, Ernest Hemingway had an editor who was paid to rework his stuff. What if you dont have anyone to revise your writing, and youre depressed by the thought of having to do it yourself? Let your writing sit for a while. It may make more sense if you sleep on it. Or, it may make less sense after you have slept on it. At least youll know which. Find someone to read it for you, to make suggestions, or even to edit it for you. You dont need someone who is a great writer themselves. Sometimes its better to find someone with nothing more than a good head on their shoulders and the ability to read English words. Ask questions. Any sensible person can tell you if he or she understood what you wrote. And if your reader didnt understand, ask what her or she thought you said. That will give you ideas for improvement, I assure you, depending how far off the mark they were. Run an ad in Craigslist, offering to pay someone a small sum to edit your writing. The ad is free, its easy to run, and the work can be done cheaply. You may find that you get what you pay for, but you can decide how much its worth to you. Find a writing critique group. Writers groups are mostly for creative writers: poets, playwrights and novelists. But for business writing, you could ask someone in your local civic club or chamber of commerce for advice. The point is to free yourself from the worry that youre writing in stone. Youre not. Anything you say can and should be considered changeable. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Writing Basics category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Congratulations on or for?Deck the HallsNarrative, Plot, and Story