The Four R’s of Writing

Jul 17, 2013 | Better Writing

You’ve probably heard of the “three R’s” of basic education. Well, here are my four R’s of writing. My list starts with an R that isn’t an R, but sounds like one.

Write. Get it out. Get it down. That’s the only way to have something to improve or to publish.

Read. Read it aloud. That’s how your tongue discovers problems that your eyes miss.

Revise. Yes, all good writing is re-writing.

Rest. Let the piece rest for a few minutes or hours or days. When you return to it you’ll find things to fix and things to improve.

There’s another R, too. Sometimes what you’ve written is not as good as you want it and you have time to make it better. In that case, Revise again, as many times as necessary.