Member-only story
Writers, Let Your Writing Ripen
How resisting the urge for publishing gratification can pay off
When I get an idea for an article, I usually stop what I’m doing. Immediately.
The nudge in my mind is like a lightning bolt, often interrupting my day job where I write marketing copy for clients.
My habitual process is to quickly open a new tab, start a ‘new story’ on Medium, and let the words pour from my fingertips, like a well flowing tap.
In the past, I’d write as much as possible. Then I’d quickly find an image, and then hit publish.
After all, the urgency of the inspiration hit me so much like a bolt from the blue that it felt pertinent to push it into the world with the same gusto.
Patience has never been one of my virtues — I’m the kind of person that has to write in a birthday card within hours of buying it, and the person that has to unpack the suitcase as soon as I’m in my hotel room. I find it difficult to not take action straightaway, so trying a new tactic was going to prove challenging.
For example, I never buy those ‘ripen at home’ avocados. They just annoy me. They’re rock hard, and then you wait a week to have your hipster smashed avocado on toast on a Saturday morning and guess what — they’re still hard.
