The 8 ‘C’s in your control in your writing (and your life)

#1 – Carrying an intention

How do you feel on your better days as a writer?

Do you get those feelings, you know the ones: possibility, flow, the joy of creating, the delight of helping another human. It’s the best, right?

But on the less-than-great days, when nobody reads your masterpiece and some other chap gets 22k claps for burping, it’s easier to do the fatal thing: place the locus of control outside of yourself. But this will cause you to leak your creative energy.

There’s 1001 things you can’t control, but there are some things you can.

Here are 8 “C”s to keep your locus on the inside, master of your own destiny and all that.

If you want, score yourself out of 5 for each, where 5 is “doing great”. Then choose just one to practise this week.

1. Carrying the intention to write. There’s a place inside you where you intend good things. Guard it. Nourish it.
2. Creating content. Your fingertips do the word-work. Keep them writing, through the fog, sludge and self-analysis. Keep creating. The process is everything.
3. Clear image selection. My favourite is Unsplash, good quality and free. Remember to credit the originator. When you look at the image, what are the first 2 words that come to mind? Is that what you want your article to say?
4. Catchy title. What gets you clicking on other people’s work? What puts you off? I recently read about the importance of practising 10 titles a day.
5. Concise words. Tim Denning cuts his articles by half. My present goal is 3 minute max. Rank sentences for priority. Read them aloud, what sounds better? Respecting your readers time is massive on the Medium platform.
6. Curious tone. Notice what tone you prefer reading (possibly varies), what puts you off? NB. How many questions has this article asked so far?
7. Checking accuracy. Factual and spelling, punctuation and grammar. When this isn’t done it’s a real put off and weakens the trust you build with your audience. “If this writer hasn’t bothered to check detail, how can I trust them with the rest?” There are no prizes for laziness.
8. Continue learning. There is no limit to learning. It’s the breathing-in which sparks you to breathe-out your next piece for us to enjoy.

How are you getting on?

Thank you for reading.