I recently finished reading a moving memoir I happened upon through a newsletter subscriber. It’s written by an artist and I felt as if I were visiting with an old friend, vicariously enjoying her friendships and journey of personal growth.
The writing wasn’t crisp or particularly well organized, but I enjoyed the book just the same for the way the author’s openness, attitude and artist’s perspective shined through every word and the extreme experiences she survived and even thrived in.
It got me to thinking about writing quality and what standards we might have for ourselves as authors. Does a book need to be tight, perfect and well structured?
That depends on your goals. If you write to heal your own life or you write to inspire others with your story, maybe not.
If you are building a business or a brand as a speaker, entrepreneur or consultant, it better be as tight and polished as it can be–so you give an impression of excellence all around. Quality of writing and even the craft will reflect on your brand.
And, if you want to reach the greatest number of people as possible–certainly if you want to write a bestseller–make that additional investment of time and editing resources.
So many of our writing decisions depend on our goals. Whenever you are making decisions about your book, go back to your big vision and specific goals and the decision will become clearer.
What are your goals? Share here…or ask any editing questions as well. I’m happy to answer.
Thank you for valuable information. I love the part of contextualising the writing experience/process i.e. – what is one writing for.