It’s up to you

Editing is more than half of writing. You basically just blurt everything possible out, and then systematically go ahead and take out the bad parts, and brush up the good parts. What you’re left with, if you’re remotely lucky, is something that can be considered readable.

And then, if you have the time, you go over it once more asking yourself, is there any way I can make this more concise? Is there any way I can say the same thing in fewer words?

More often than not, there is. Also more often than not, you can take out whole paragraphs, or in the worst case scenario, basically everything you have written.

This process of elimination is vital in creating something worthwhile sharing, and it comes down to a simple task of addition or detracting. Does this sentence add to the piece? Or does it detract? Anything that is not an addition, by definition is a detractor.

In the same way, we can think of our lives as writing a book. We are the ones in charge of our destiny, after all.

Life your life as per normal. But every once in a while, say a New Year’s resolution or something, examine whether things add, or detract. Then question whether these detractors are truly worth your time (hint: they aren’t), and get rid of them wherever possible.