Writing, Editing & A Word I Don't Often Use

A week ago tonight, this was my view. I was sitting on the patio at Roy's in San Diego, enjoying a ginger pear martini, watching the sunset.

San Diego, I miss you! So much. And I still want to live there.

But life in Tulsa has sucked me back in. In a wonderful way, of course; with it's blazing heat one moment. Violent storms the next. My cozy house, my familiar running trail, my wild kitten, my favorite friends and challenging job. Yeah, life is good here.

So my dreams of packing it all up and getting on a plane to the West Coast have momentarily been put on hold. But the spark has been ignitied; that's a post for another day.

Because- great news! Today's post is about writing and editing.

Oh, come on! I can hear your groans and sighs from here. Hang with me.

I'm finally sorting through my notes from the conference! Even as my suitcase still sits on my bedroom floor. Priorities, people.

One of my favorite sessions at BlogHer was on writing and editing in a blog post. I tend to be a rather... verbose?... writer, so I always love hearing people's thoughts on the correct usage of grammar, how long a post should be, who to target, etc.

Some of my favorite "lessons" I took away:

*People notice your grammar & writing before your message -Jane Goodwin
*Knowing your audience helps your "voice" -KT Braford
*Don't be afraid to write a sh***y first draft -KT Bradford

See, I'm already debating the impact of writing sh***y versus just spelling it out. Because this is a writing and editing post, after all. And you will only take this word away from my post. Because my writing comes before my message. And who is my audience again?!

Still with me?

This seminar touched on several of my biggest insecurities as a writer that had little to do with grammer and wording- and more to do with message and audience. I'm a good "on command" writer; my profession has made me so. Newscasts, you got it. Promo scripts? Give me five minutes. Live producing? I make content decisions in a split second.

With my blog, it's harder. The content is there- but how to I say it? Is it too deep? Is it too fluffy? What do people respond to the best? Should I write more along those lines? And now am I letting my audience dictate my content? Scratch it all, rewrite it. Or just go to bed.

And then we're back at square one.

All this to say, I loved this seminar. And I took away some amazing tips. I realized my "voice" is a work in progress. My writing needs improvement in some areas and toning down in others. But my message, my audience- that depends on me.

You might get some deep, impacting, beautifully-written posts out of this blog one day... and you-know-what the next.

My challenge to myself coming away from that seminar is to write, write, write. Spend less time debating, worrying and wondering- and more time putting the words out there.

And I am less inclined to wow you guys every day with mind boggling posts (read: put pressure on myself to only publish mind-boggling posts) and more inclined to just write because I like to- shitty first drafts and all.

Yes, I wrote it. Because as Jane Goodwin so eloquently re-quoted Lucille Ball as saying, "Don't trust anyone who doesn't say the word shit."