10 Tips on How to Write Less Badly

A lot of very talented people fail because they couldn't, or didn't, write.

1. Writing is an exercise.

2. Set goals based on output, not input.

3. Find a voice; don't just "get published."

4. Give yourself time.

Writers sit at their desks for hours, wrestling with ideas.

5. Everyone's unwritten work is brilliant.

6. Pick a puzzle.

7. Write, then squeeze the other things in.

Put your writing ahead of your other work.

Just make sure you get in the habit of reserving your most productive time for writing.

8. Not all of your thoughts are profound.

It is hard to refine your questions, define your terms precisely, or know just how your argument will work until you have actually written it all down.

9. Your most profound thoughts are often wrong.

10. Edit your work, over and over.

The difference between a successful scholar and a failure need not be better writing. It is often more editing.

If you have trouble writing, then you just haven't written enough.