Content Creator or a Writer?

Image by Marisa Sias from Pixabay

Many of us fall into the trap of less than the nine-second attention span and making comparisons with goldfish. I believe in what Nobel-awarded economist Herbert Simon calls ‘satisficing.’ It is a combination of satisfy and suffice; we give attention to things we think deserve our attention.

If you find something worth reading, you will. The way I deliver comes second.

Writers are often in too much of a hurry to get their work out there. They cannot be bothered to make it as right as it could be. Instant gratification, goldfish span, or social media, whatever the reason may be. Many writers think putting the final punctuation mark in place does not mean it is time to submit. You don’t have to send every piece out right away.

Think about those hasty submissions that get published with your name forever associated with it. It’s not a breaking news. Sure, your story might have some timely insights based on trending hashtags or current affairs. Still, does it have to be published today to be relevant?

What I have learned from my experience is that one needs to make sure that their story is 100% ready to be submitted. Not 99%,100%!

Personalized Peer Reviewers

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the academic meme, PR2 is that querulous and impossible-to-please reviewer. Courtney Berger has written down some strategies when you do not know what to do about PR2. Imagine having a team of PR2 evaluating your draft, not fun! In fact, it may appear as a self-inflicted pain.

I have my crafted my peer review system, that too Peer Reviewers 2! It includes my sister, my teen nephews and niece, and my mom who every once in a while volunteers to be a parental reviewer for the Sindhi content.

Now don’t worry, some questions might help you not to rush in:

- Have you read it over at least five times?

- Are you proud of it?

- Are you contemplating sending it to a non-indexed journal or one of those predators who invite you by spamming your inbox with quoting your most viewed article?

If yes,

- Is it because you are pretty sure they’ll publish anything?

- Has it been rejected a dozen times or more with no positive feedback?

- Does it still have typos in it?

First draft Frenzy!

This does not mean that you stop listening to your gut. Never forget, your gut is wiser than your mind!

Listen to it, pay attention, and create your first draft. Drafting demands a curious mindset, with minimal mental barriers to let the ideas pouring in. It is editing that requires an evaluative frame of mind with maximal mental barriers to keep distracting ideas out.

My initial drafts are a total mess: oh, yes! But at least I have something I can go back to. Creating a draft from scratch is tough for me.

O, I doubt all the time. I doubt, and then I write.