The writing process often starts with a pet peeve or a pain point, but whether it results in good writing depends on where we take it from there.
Our ready-fire-aim society provides plenty of examples of poor writing, and I’m not just talking about writing that’s filled with typos and weak sentences. I’m talking about writing that lacks impact or, worse, has a negative impact.
It might not always be painful to read, but it causes pain.
Not positive pain, like the discomfort that comes from the necessary pruning in our lives, but the soul-piercing pain from words that, at their core, are self-righteous, narcissistic, and mean-spirited. That type of writing stymies conversations, stunts progress, and damages relationships.
It happens when a pet peeve or pain point catches our attention and we give in to our natural inclination to rant about it. And writers typically rant in written form.
For me, it’s often good therapy, but it’s rarely good writing – or, better said, it’s not writing that needs to be published for others to read.
Fortunately, we can avoid that type of bad writing. Better still, I’ve found it can sometimes be redeemed if I follow one simple rule: Never publish the first draft.
Not of an email. Not of a text. Not of a blog. Not of a book chapter.
Not. Of. Anything.
But especially not of a rant.
Instead, do the hard right thing: Reflect. Edit. Reflect. Edit. Reflect. Edit.
Apply Ephesians 4:29 to every sentence, or, if you prefer, go with some secularized version like Rotary’s famed “Four-Way Test”: Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendships? Will it be beneficial to all concerned?
Then keep repeating those steps until you either spike what you’ve written (deleted it and consider it personal therapy) or deem it something edifying and worthy of sharing with the world.
As a recovering cynical journalist, this has been a lifelong struggle for me. Snark and low-brow humor come easily and feed my pride. But I’m getting better.
This blog, for instance, began months ago while I was reading the morning newspaper and obsessing about one of my pet peeves: My perception that a beloved, decades-old standing feature has fallen into a downward spiral. I still might publish my thoughts on that, but not now, because I can’t yet see how what I have to say is edifying and useful to anyone.
In the meantime, I’ll keep noodling on it. I’ll reflect. I’ll edit. And I’ll repeat those steps until I no longer feel the need to keep writing or until I have something I believe is worth sharing. Maybe the idea can be redeemed.
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