Which Are Your Crazy Writing Habits?

I think writing is a lot about routines and systems and less about creativity. In this piece of content, I will share with you my 5 crazy writing habits.

Which are your unusual writing habits? I have placed 5 questions at the end of this article, feel free to respond to them in the comments section.

3, 2, 1, GO! Let’s start!

I can’t write on a big screen

I have a nice desk and two big monitors I use at my day-to-day job, but I cannot write anything on a big screen.

I feel as if my inspiration goes away and I am incapable of squeezing any words out of my head if I use a big screen. This is most likely because I find writing a very intimate thing.

I remember when I was little and my parents did not allow me to read late at night, but I did not obey the rules. I took a book with me in bed and used a flashlight to read under the blanket. I feel the same way about writing.

Also, I cannot focus if someone is reading my text as I type it. This kills my entire creativity and mood for writing.

I always submit an article after reading it 3 times only

I tend to over-edit my work, even though I am not a perfectionist.

In order not to waste hours reading a post and changing a few commas and words only, I created a system that prevents me from doing that — I publish everything after I read it three times only.

My editing system works like this:

• I read the article once out loud — this helps me discover the sentences that are too long and need to be shortened;
• I read the article on my mobile phone the second time — using a different screen than the one I used for writing helps visualize the piece differently;
• I read the article on my laptop the third time and I hit publish after I finish the final edits.

Don’t know if over-editing is a problem for others, but it sure was for me, in my early career as a writer.

I write ideas on an agenda, but I write article drafts on blank pieces of paper

I have an agenda where I write different article titles only. I use blank pieces of paper for creating post sketches.

I write a lot of things down in the time when I am not writing and seeing the ideas of published articles in my agenda kills my mood.

After I finish writing something, I throw away the pieces of paper I used to draft my material.

I store the papers containing unwritten content in a drawer.

The main reason I do things like this is that I feel overwhelmed every time I see a lot of unwritten article drafts.

I don’t like talking to others about my texts

Don’t get me wrong. I am very proud of my writing skills and of the work I had done so far.

I am fine with the fact that my girlfriend is reading everything I post on the internet, but I don’t like to talk about my texts. NEVER!

People tend to have opinions and provide suggestions, but in 99% of the cases, I am not willing to change a dot or a comma in my materials.

I use different places for writing

I feel more inspired if I use different writing spots. I often use the couch, my work desk, the kitchen table, or my wife’s desk.

Once, I wrote an article on one of the desks from the storage room.

And, I love writing from different coffee shops and public places, but the cold Winter and the current situations force me to stay mostly indoors.

As I said in the beginning, I prefer to embrace my crazy writing habits instead of fighting them. It’s easier to use them for my benefit instead of pretending they are not there.

What about you?

• Can you write on big screens? Do you need privacy to write?
• How many times do you reread an article before publishing it?
• How do you organize your writing ideas?
• Do you discuss your content with others?
• Do you have different writing spots? How do they work?

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👇 I hope you enjoyed reading this piece. Curious to know a bit about myself? 👇

My pen name is Ryan Miller. I am a Linux Sysadmin, writing hobbyist, father, and husband. I mostly write non-fiction on Vocal, Medium, and my blogs.

My day-to-day job pays my bills, but I am not going to lie to you. I am interested in making money with my writing as well. My top earning article on Medium generated 50$ so far.

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