One good sentence

I struggle to write well. Or more honestly, I struggle to write. I overthink what I'm writing. I want my writing to be precise, logical, and clever, to withstand any rational argument. However good my intentions, these self-imposed requirements act as a barrier I find difficult to break.

It's like when you start learning about wine, you become more picky about what you drink. You begin to know what good tastes like. You become more aware of the nuances. In other words, you develop taste.

The same applies to writing: The more I read and learn (about) good writing, the more aware I become of my writing. I realize how much time and repetition are needed for my writing to become good.

When my curiosity towards writing grew, I did what I suspect most would do: I read The Elements of Style, On Writing, and On Writing Well. As a result, I thought I was ready to write better, and, to some extent, I was right. I did write better. But as with the cheap wine that used to bring pleasure, my newly improved taste became the low tide to reveal every malformed reef and rock, rendering my writing more naked than ever.

The books about writing helped me spot good writing, but producing such writing is another beast. I know embracing friction is part of the journey, but what if I can't even start?

While troubleshooting the issue, I realized I struggle most with separating writing from editing. With that realization came an idea: what if I wrote an article with a simple goal of ending up with one good sentence? Just one. The rest of the words, sentences, and paragraphs could come as they are; mere thoughts spilled on a digital paper. That way, I reasoned, I could break through the barrier of perfection that's been holding me back with writing.

I tried that method with this article. And lo and behold, the first version came to life in fifteen minutes. I wrote without barriers. Only after the draft was complete did I proceed to edit. Not only did I feel better writing, but I also think the result is better. Who knows, maybe there's even more than one good sentence in here.

With plenty of this year still left, consider this a premature New Year's promise: I'll begin to just write, and edit later. I set the goal to one good sentence. Only a handful of people will read these words anyway, so I might as well consider writing for an audience of one: myself.