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?
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9 Comments
One of the worst mistakes I made was years ago when an editor informed me that my article deadline was that very day, not a week later, as I had understood. I’d done the extensive interview, but hadn’t started putting the 2000-word article together. So I stayed up all night, finished it at 5am, hit SEND, and went to bed, pleased and confident in my ability to write quality material and meet deadlines. After all, I rationalized, since the article was in her Inbox when she woke up, I had met my deadline. Time to celebrate with some sleep.
A few hours later, I went straight to the computer, reread my article–and gasped! There were not only a few typos, but poor word choices, bumpy syntax, and formatting errors. I immediately called the editor, explained my dilemma, and asked for a few hours to fix the mess. She agreed and the article was ultimately a success, garnering me another assignment.
But how much better it would have been for me to ask for grace up front, and then write, wait , and marinate. I learned a difficult lesson that day, but it was a mistake in judgement I’ve tried to never repeat. So I agree–Write, Wait, Marinate, and THEN Celebrate!
Vonda, thank you for this amazing story! What a perfect example for the need to marinate (and what a grace-filled editor!). I’ve had sleepless nights wondering if I sent something too early–but that problem is fixed if I just let the work sit! Thanks for your encouragement. You are spot-on about the CELEBRATE part!
Great advice! It is difficult to resist the urge to submit when I think after proofing and editing many times that everything is perfect. Marinate is a good term for letting your work rest and then revisit it. It is painful to see errors leap off the page of work submitted too soon. Hopefully I have learned my lesson.
Still new to the writing field, I need many beneficial suggestions. Thank you for yours.
Hi, Bonita! Thanks for commenting! Yes, you are right–submitting too early CAN be painful. In fact, a couple of time I’ve broken out in a cold sweat. Ha! I now marinate to a fault. It is important to remember, however, that we are still human. And even after a good waiting period, we can miss things in our work. We just learn from those mistakes and KEEP WRITING!
Correction – “…a couple of times…” (Sigh)
Never thought of the word “marinate” as what I do when I leave my writing for a number of hours or more and then come back to improve on what I’ve written. I let my work marinate overnight and then return to it with a fresh mind in the morning. It always works wonders.
Yes, Rachel, it does work wonders! I’m AMAZED with my writer-vision after a good night’s sleep. Thanks for commenting!
Great article, Leigh. I do the same with my blog. I write it, wait, make changes then wait again. This process has saved me. Thank you for the reminder.
Thanks, Cherrilynn! I’m so tempted to rush headlong into submitting. I have to constantly remind myself to slow down and let the work sit.