DIY Assessment of Your Writing

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Writers are anxious beings, always full of self-doubt. Though that fear of being judged for our writing never goes away, here’s a three-step guide that helped me develop some confidence in my writing.

Writers are anxious beings, full of self-doubt whose fear of being judged for their writing never goes away.

Who knows? These pointers might help you get over that self-doubt too.

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1. Read it out aloud

Reading the written matter in your mind might make you skip over some typos and grammatical errors.

For adults, hearing a story read aloud helps comprehension on a deeper level because it forces you to focus rather than skimming over the words. For writers, read-aloud is a habit that helps improve writing skills, as it forces you to be more attentive to your words. — David Sedaris

So read what you write, aloud. Besides spotting the errors, you might also find yourself realizing that some sentences can be better constructed.

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2. Read the piece as a reader, not as a writer

This is easier said than done, I know. It’s especially tough when you’ve just written something. So what I generally do is, let the piece lay dormant for some time (ideally 2–3 days) and go back and read it with fresh eyes and a fresh mind, forgetting altogether that I’m the producer/creator of it. This helps me look at it objectively from the PoV of a consumer/reader.

Let the piece lay dormant for some time and go back and read it with fresh eyes and a fresh mind.

Try to forget that you’re the producer/creator of the content and look at it objectively from the PoV of a consumer/reader.

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3. Ask yourself ‘Is this the best I can give to this piece of writing?’

We can be biased towards our work. But in our hearts and mind, we know when we’ve done something half-heartedly and when we’ve put our complete heart and soul into something.

So before saying to yourself, ‘Okay, I’m done with this’ take some (or many) breaks if needed and ask the litmus test self-assessment question, ‘Is this my best work?’

In our heart of hearts, we know when we’ve done something half-heartedly and when we’ve put our complete heart and soul into something.

If the answer is no, you know what gotta do.

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In conclusion, I want to leave you with a thought that helps me continue forth in my writing journey.

“Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.” ~ Steven King

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Thank you for reading.

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