What a day. We’ve been fighting to stay in the zone, our fingers flying over the keyboard searching for that illusive magic. Mr. Deadline—arms crossed and watching with a smirk—ramps up the pressure.
Then, at last. We complete an article, story, or blogpost and in our humble opinion, the finished product is good. We are itching to click “submit” and get this fine piece of writing out into the world.
But wait. There’s one more thing we need to do, so with a groan, we hold back and click “save.”
Why?
The answer will be evident—tomorrow.
No matter how perfect our writing seems in the moment, after giving the words a few hours or days to marinate, needed changes will leap off the page.
And I do mean leap.
I will edit a manuscript ad nauseam, convinced it is submission-worthy, only to return days later and stare dumbfounded at overlooked mistakes. For crying out loud, did I really write “their” instead of “they’re” and use the same verb seven times? Mercy.
A tasty marinade propels an average piece of chicken from good to great—and the steeping process does the same with our writing. Engaging our work with fresh eyes and a clear head is like having superpowers: we have the ability to peer through the fog, locate problems, and brainstorm solutions.
We will see everything from typos and poor word choices to overall structural issues. And we will take great delight in the knowledge we didn’t hit “submit” prematurely.
Are we wasting time allowing a work-in-progress to sit for a couple of days? Absolutely not. We move on to other work. In fact, I love knowing I have a handful of projects out knocking on publication doors, a few marinating in various locations (a drawer, a friend’s computer, on a shelf, in the recesses of my brain), and others bubbling to life in a notebook of possibilities.
Are we ready? Write, wait…marinate. Then edit and send it packing!
Do you have a unique way to allow your work to marinate? What is the biggest issue your post-marinade superpower allowed you to see?
[bctt tweet=”Write, Wait…Marinate! #amwriting #A3″ username=”@A3forMe @lthomaswrites”]