A Subtle Shift I Made To Finally Become A Decent Writer

I have been a professional writer for 6 years.

It’s really the only job I’ve ever had.

I would be lying to you if I said the first year year went well.

It took me much longer than it should have to realize why my writing wasn’t working.

Part of the the problem was that I spent far too much time only writing a certain way. I majored in English, and spent the four years in school preparing to go to graduate school. But, I changed my mind shortly after graduation and decided to try and make it as a writer. I’d only every written as a budding academic.

This did not go well.

For the longest time, I couldn’t figure out what was going wrong.

It dawned on me one day that I was writing with zero sense of authority. I was timid — as though I was afraid to show my writing to anyone. You could read it in the writing.

I didn’t have the direct, sparse prose that a lot of business and commercial writing needed.

It felt like I was talking around everything, over explaining ideas, and not letting the writing speak for itself.

As soon as I started writing with authority I found much more success. I stopped writing like a college student, and started writing like a professional, and professional success followed.