Top 10 Signs Your Writing is Improving
If you’re working on your writing—trying to write more, and/or write better—today I’d like to offer some encouragement by way of some signs and signals that your writing might be improving.
In my last post, I shared a quote from Stephen King, in which he says, “you might be doing good work when it feels like all you’re managing is to shovel sh*t from a sitting position.”
Today I thought I’d expand on that notion by exploring the question of doing good work. As in: how do you know if you *are* doing good work?
Or at least… better work than before?
For many people, the immediate answer would be: “I know I’m doing better if I’m getting better feedback (or more likes, clicks, or reactions to my work.)”
Before I get into how to gauge your improvement, some food for thought on this. External feedback is not a terrible marker of improvement, but it’s definitely not the only one. In fact, I think it can be dangerously limiting to over-focus on external feedback when you’re trying to develop a skill such as writing.
To be clear: External feedback can be highly valuable, especially if it comes in the form of constructive guidance provided by trusted colleagues, mentors, editors, beta readers, and so on. But if you’re relying solely on the signals of other people — especially en masse reactions via social media, which are largely driven by algorithms beyond your control — you’re potentially missing out on a deeper understanding of not only what’s working, but whether you’re improving.
Let me lean into that point a little more: Improving in terms of audience response is not necessarily the same as improving, skill-wise.
Yes, it’s absolutely important to watch your audience and actively learn what works. What words and phrases seem to resonate? Which stories get a reaction? What writing have you shared that seems to be making an impact? These are all good questions and worthy of attention.
However, there’s more to being a good writer than just putting out content that gets a positive reaction. There are many sub-skills involved in writing, and it’s absolutely possible to progress without necessarily getting a positive public reaction. This is especially true if you’re in the early stages of your thought leadership trajectory, where you are still developing early ideas, learning to communicate complex concepts, and getting used to publishing your work on a regular basis. (It may also be true if your ideas are challenging, innovative, or new. People don’t always react well to stuff that upsets the status quo.)
Developing your writing skills is a bit like trying to improve your health. If you want to get healthier, you might learn some new habits or skills, like moving your body more, eating more nutritious food, sleeping better, etc. If you do these things, eventually other people might start to notice that your body is changing, or they might commend you on your habits. Or they might not. Regardless of what they think, or whether they even notice, you have developed a bunch of skills in your life that you can continue to practice, build on, and reap rewards from.
The better you get at writing and storytelling, the greater your chance of positively influencing others and making an impact. But regardless of how people respond to something you’ve written, you’ll be making yourself a better writer. And that sets you up for long-term success, so you can regularly and effectively express your thoughts and ideas while your ideas (and you!) evolve.
With all that in mind, how do you know if your writing is improving, if not from getting external feedback? Here are 10 top signs to watch for.
Top 10 Signs Your Writing is Improving (Regardless of External Feedback)
#1 You’re writing faster
Writing takes time. Especially when you’re first getting started, it can feel like pulling teeth just to get your ideas on paper, let alone making those ideas sound good.
That’s okay: I’d rather someone take time with their work and devote the care and attention it deserves than rush through just to get something out the door.
Having said that, speed helps a lot. The more efficient you become, the more you can do. (And the less painful the whole process becomes.)
It can be rewarding to watch your speed improve. As you write regularly, you might start to notice you speed up naturally. If you want to quantify this improvement, try setting a timer to complete a task, such as writing a blog post. Do this occasionally and see if your time starts to decline (and your pace starts to speed up) with practice.
#2 You know intuitively when “good enough” is
One of the most common questions I get is, “how do I know when my work is good enough?”
In other words, when is it time to stop revising and tinkering with your work and share it (or submit it for publication, or whatever your next step is?)
I can offer suggestions for this, but the truth is, as your skills grow, it will naturally become more intuitive. You’ll have a sense of when something is likely good enough, if not to publish, then to pass along for feedback or editing. Plus, you’ll be less worried about whether it’s “good enough” altogether. The idea of sharing something less than perfect won’t be as terrifying.
Which leads me to sign number 3…
#3 You feel less like hiding under the covers after submitting or sharing your work
Sharing, submitting, or publishing your work can be scary. It requires vulnerability, which can involve the dreaded vulnerability hangover.
Trust me, I’ve been there. Especially when I was a bit earlier into my business and career and taking on big, new projects. There were times when I felt downright terrified and wanted nothing more than to crawl back into my shell. But, I kept going.
Anytime you’re going out on a limb, it’s going to feel scary. But it gets less scary over time, I promise. The fear softens because a) your skills improve, and b) you realize that nothing terrible is going to happen. Even if your work needs revising or people don’t particularly like what you’ve written, it’s not the end of the world.
If you start to feel the fear even a little bit less, you’re probably growing.
#4 You embrace collaboration
Building on point #3, the more you get acclimatized to sharing your work, and the less sensitive you are to proving that your work is “good enough”, the more you can take in and welcome feedback and participation from others. This may include involving editors, reviewers, early readers, or active collaborators and co-writers. And the more you do that, the more you start to see just how much better your work can get when you involve other people in the process.
If you have a strong growth mindset, you might already be pretty good at welcoming constructive criticism and drawing on the expertise of others. Nonetheless, I think the more experienced you are, the better you’re able to see the value of collaboration and its potential to level-up your work.
Of course, some folks bring in collaborators and experts because they know that writing isn’t their greatest skill set, so collaborating isn’t necessarily a sign of growth per se, as much as it is recognition of their limitations. But I think a lot of people hold off on collaborating because they’re afraid of revealing their weaknesses or they think they need to do it all themselves in order to prove they can. Experienced people know that collaboration tends to improve things, so they lean on this more and are better able to make room for other influences and inputs.
#5 You can ride the rollercoaster and/or just keep shoveling
Back to last week’s newsletter about “shoveling sh*t”—I made the comment that the true sign of a writer is the ability to just keep shoveling. To keep going even when a part of your brain is convinced that you’re producing nothing but crap.
I’ve also written about this (with my friend Alex, who illustrated this helpful comic) as writing confidence rollercoaster. The better skilled you are, the better able you’re able to handle the ups and downs of the rollercoaster.
You don’t need to feel entirely confident to be improving. If you’re able to tolerate the discomfort and just keep going, that’s a very good sign.
#6 Your ideas are clear
One of the most common challenges I see with clients is that they want to use one piece of writing—one speech, talk, blog post, editorial, etc—to communicate multiple ideas. They tend to pack in too many concepts or points, each requiring thorough explanation. The end result: too many ideas! I try to help them get an idea of what the bigger story is, and then settle on the key points or mini stories to help communicate that overarching narrative.
Think of it like a consomme vs a stew. A consomme requires multiple ingredients, but the end result is a crystal clear broth. It’s very clear what it is, and the taste should be clean, not muddy. In a stew, you have a whole bunch of ingredients swimming around together. The broth might be cloudy, or you might have more of a rich sauce rather than a broth. When it comes to writing, aim to make a consomme, not a stew.
You’ll know your writing is getting better when you know exactly what you’re trying to say, and that message is clearly evident.
#7 You use fewer words
Fewer words are often the mark of a more experienced writer. Good writing tends to be concise and precise. If you’re writing well, you won’t over explain your points, you won’t wander randomly into tangents, and you won’t overwork your writing or use extra words to try to sound smart.
Of course, too few words can also be a sign of inexperience. But if you have lots to say, then using fewer words to get your message across is a good sign.
That assumes, of course, that you’re training yourself to write clearly and concisely rather than getting ChatGPT to write or edit your work. Using AI-type tools to help you shorten your writing won’t make you a better writer. If you want to be more concise, write a draft as you normally would. Then, edit your work and aim to cut the word count down by 10%. Then do it again, cutting it down by another 10%. Judge for yourself whether you have a better end-product on your hands. This is how you will grow and improve as a writer. Trust me, it’s worth it.
#8 You start to see story ideas everywhere (and you know how to use them in your writing)
If, throughout the course of your daily life, you start to think “ooh, that’s something to write about,” this is a sign that you are adopting the mind of a writer—and for that matter, a storyteller.
Additionally, it’s the sign of a skilled writer to be able to call upon stories, experiences, metaphors and the like while writing. Good writers tend to make use of daily life experiences and pull them into their writing.
Whenever I see my clients start to bring in stories and examples without prompting from me, I am filled with delight, because it is a sure sign of progress! It shows they are thinking more like a writer, and relying less on me to pull the stories and examples out of them.
#9 You like what you write
Here’s another good sign to watch for: when you read over your work, it flows. You don’t have to keep going back, re-reading things and finding that you’re getting caught up in the words or unsure if you’re communicating your ideas effectively.
Even better, you can look back at something you wrote lately and think “I like this.”
The other side of this coin is that you might look back at older things you’ve written and think, “yikes”. If you see older work you’ve produced and feel the overwhelming urge to fix it or edit, that right there is a clear sign of growth.
#10 You’re willing to “go there”… and you’re less worried about what other people think.
More signs you’re growing as a writer: You don’t shy away from your more vulnerable, dangerous, challenging, or imperfect ideas. You lean into work that feels meaningful to you. You get a thrill when you share your writing, because it matters to you.
Similarly, you might find yourself caring less about what other people think. You know your work matters, and that gives you a sense of grounding. Calling back to my earlier point, when you no longer look obsessively for signs of external feedback, that’s a sign of growth as a writer.
Again, there’s nothing wrong with playing detective and trying to figure out how to best serve your audience. A huge part of writing is thinking about your audience and trying to serve them well.
But when you reach a certain level of competence, you don’t have to keep such close tabs on how other people are responding. You have a sense of inner confidence, and you know you’re doing meaningful work. And that’s a really fantastic place to be.
So… there you have it… top 10 signs you’re improving as a writer!
Can you spot any signs in yourself? Which ones? Write me back and let me know.