Getting Better (All the Time)

I must be getting faster at this writing stuff, because now I find myself getting done ahead of time and waiting around for work to come in.

I might be getting quicker at the research part of it. I’ve gotten to know the layout of results pages pretty well. And I have a better sense of what will and won’t work in my articles. If I’m having a hard time finding what I need, I’m getting better at being resourceful and looking at a subject from a different angle.

It depends on how familiar I am with the subject, too, though. I’ve accumulated quite a knowledge base about text message marketing, for example. I’ve written so many articles about it that I know all the statistics by heart.

I’m definitely more confident when I’m engaging in the actual writing part of the process. I’m not as painstaking about what to write before it even makes its way to the page. In the past I’ve found myself almost obsessive about this. I would kind of edit myself as I went along and it slowed me way down.

I don’t find myself rereading what I’ve written a thousand times, either. I just keep going until it’s done. Then I reread.

I think all of these things have helped. I’m still a lousy typist, though. Even when I practice the free online programs, I never get much past 50 words per minute. Actually 50 words is pretty good for me.

It helps that I really enjoy what I’m doing. I’m learning a lot of new things, particularly about marketing, search engine optimization, e-commerce, and, my personal favorite, chimneys and masonry. Did you know you can buy an electric fireplace and you don’t even need a chimney to operate it? Now anyone can have a fireplace. I kind of want one.

But seriously. Even with the topics I’m not that interested in, I still enjoy the act of writing. Just putting words on the page. It doesn’t feel like a job. I even find myself “working” in my spare time, because it’s what I love to do.

I’m anxious to soak up as much as I can about writing and the writing profession. It’s the thing that’s been missing from my life for 20 years.