Writing Habits: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

A habit can be defined as an automatic pattern of behavior in reaction to a specific situation. We all have habits for a variety of situations, some good and some bad. When it comes to writing I tend to flow away from the traditional writing process. I believe just like in other situations I have both good and bad writing habits.

I’ll start with the ugly; I am a procrastinator to the fullest. I tend to wait till the last minute literally late at night, and also right before a writing assignment is due. I have done this for a while now and over time it has developed into a bad habit, one that I hope I can get rid of. Another not so good habit when I do when I write is I don’t put my thoughts down on paper, I try to remember and store them in my head and try recover those thoughts and use them later on in a paper. I have so many thoughts going on through my head about what I’m writing about and I tend think about sentences and thoughts I’m going to use in the last paragraph instead of thinking about the current paragraph I’m on. Another bad habit that goes along with procrastination is while I am writing I take frequent breaks. So after a few sentences I will get up and do something, sometimes it will be a quick break others not so quick. I think this is good and bad for me; instead of writing something that could take me an hour it will take me a day, but also taking breaks refreshes my mind.

Now there are some good writing techniques I use that are unique. I follow the writing process to an extent I just add my own little twist to it. I pre write and plan in my head, I think about what my writing topic and form complete thought out sentences in my head. I also plan out how my paper is going to flow and how the paragraphs are going to be structured. Before I even begin to write something I will have the first paragraph complete stored in my head.

There are some techniques and habits I would like to develop. For example I would like to find away to organize my thoughts and ideas and write them down on paper instead of trying to remember all of them. I would also like to improve on my revising and editing skills, I usually never go back and take a second look at what I have written. Just like any habit it takes time and practice to overcome the bad and develop the good.