The insufficiency of “Just Keep Writing”

Good writers write. Or so goes the common adage. It's the sage advice those with experience pass on to those aspiring. Get busy. Get to work. Put paper to pen. Just write. But I think a more necessary motivation today should be write "right" words. There is no shortage of unfiltered, unedited words available for consumption. I think that's why I've avoided this outlet for expression for the past year. I'm not interested in adding my own incoherencies. Nor should you be. No one wants to be served a cook's trial attempt — with its burnt edges and soft middles. We all want a cook's refined product, the one with the flavors that work well together, where ingredients have been mixed with care and precision. And so it should be when you write. Don't mess around. Have intent. Labor over edits. Give words and stories the care and attention they deserve. Toss aside the covers late at night and untangle the sentences and thoughts spinning in your head. Don't write what feels right but what is right.