The Case for Adding the Word "...yet" to Your Writing Vocabulary
How even those of us who are old and set in our ways can learn something from our growth mindset friends
First, thank you to everyone who filled out my little survey! I wanted to circulate it one more time before I shared the results. If you missed it last time, you can read my post about what kind of academic writer you are here, and let me know what the writing world needs more of here.
This week, I want to introduce you to the word I’ve been saying most often in coaching: “yet.”
As a kid, I was pretty sure I could do anything. Becoming an astronaut? No problem! Olympic gymnast? Totally! World famous bass player for Nirvana? 100% (before 1994, anyway). My sense of self-perception was like stem cells: I could be anything!
Then, something weird happened—I was good at school, so I kept doing it, and that somehow convinced me that I could only do things that came easily to me: that I lacked the aptitude to do hard things (because getting a PhD in political science is easy! I didn’t do that hard thing, like comparative linguistics or biophysics, right)? I stopped trying to learn things I wasn’t good at immediately, and put all of my energy into getting really good at the things that did come naturally to me. I decided I was terrible at learning languages, had no aptitude for stats, would never have the patience for archival work, and then tried to build my career around avoiding having to do things that were hard (even though I do a lot of work with languages and stats, I do it while telling myself that “real” scholars do it better, and I’m just dabbling).
I’m not happy with my writing…yet
I suspect this is the case for a lot of PhDs, and I know it’s the case for a lot of writers, because I get to talk to them all day long. As an editor, one of the things that consistently amazes is the distance between the first and second draft after a round of developmental editing. Remember, developmental editing involves no, or almost no, stylistic work at all: comments are focused on organization, structure, narrative, argument, analysis, voice. But as the writer incorporates that feedback, something magical happens: the writing gets so much better. It comes alive. The writer finds their voice. Figuring out the macro-level of edits unlocks for them the secret to good writing.
Even though writers know that the process is iterative, I still hear “I’m not a good writer” quite a bit. And so I tell them to do two things: first, to make it about the writing, not about themselves. Be specific: what’s bugging you? What’s missing? And then add the word yet. So, “I’m not a good writer” becomes “I think this sounds too stilted and academic—I haven’t found my voice…yet.” Or “I’m not a good writer” becomes “The way I’m writing about my data is feels really forced and clunky. It’s not coming alive…yet.”
A growth mindset
This exercise shifts your thinking from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset. We can do hard things, and that includes writing how you want to write. It also means trusting the process: knowing that you get the ideas right first, and the tone right second, and the words right last.
Take it from someone who read over a dozen first drafts of books last year: as you revise, your writing will get better. You’ll find yourself rewriting sections in your head, and realize that that’s the voice you want the rest of the piece to sound like. Things click. And, if you give yourself permission to start more than you finish, then the pressure of getting it right the first time can recede somewhat into the background. It’s the voice that tells you to keep revising, that things aren’t quite right…yet, that gets you to where you need to be.
Letting ”…yet” guide you in 2023
I’m using “yet” as my guiding word in 2023. After a decade-long hiatus from my last attempt to learn German, I’m back at it. I meet up once a week with one of my best friends from Germany, we speak in something resembling German, and I try not to embarrass myself too badly. I’ve also re-started Duolingo, because the tiny owl’s approval activates the reward center of my brain and actually gets me to practice. In the world of writing, I’ve realized that I want to continue writing for more public audiences, but my pitches aren’t landing the way I want them too, so I signed up for a pitch class that starts next week. My German wasn’t getting any better sitting around telling myself I was bad at languages, and I wasn’t publishing anything new by bemoaning the fact I can’t pitch national outlets, so I’ll see if the class helps. I’ll keep working at it, and letting the “…yet” tell me what what work I have to do.
Need some help finding your writing groove? I have a few coaching spots available for spring/summer - let’s chat! Also, I’m booking book edits for the fall now, so if you have a book you think will take shape this summer, now is a great time to get on my calendar for a fall edit (and if you need something sooner than that-let’s talk!).
Don’t forget to take the survey to tell me what you want more of in the writing world! It’s here. I’ll share the results next time I write!
Letting "...yet" guide you in 2023 - This statement resonated right into my heart. Thank you!