[SOC]

I am in a writing crisis. It isn't writer's block. I have a bunch of posts in my draft folder that I have written. I just don't care to publish them for various reasons. They are either too personal, too repetitive, or just plain suck.

I need to get better as a writer. Being a blogger is like being a tattoo artist. When I watch Miami Ink, Ami is always telling his guys to improve as artists. If you're not tattooing, you need to be drawing. You need to work on your craft.

A blogger is a writer. The problem with blogging is that it allows you to be sloppy. You post shit without reading it. You have typos. The grammar sucks. You spend too many words making your point.

The crux of these problems is the maximalist impulse. It is the belief that more is more. I am committed to a minimalist path, but this impulse hits me again and again. It would be like Steve Jobs deciding to bring back the floppy drive "just in case."

Good writing is thrifty writing. Bad writing is indulgent writing. I have been indulging. The result of this indulgence is a folder full of drafts that are immense but crappy.

The cure is to go back to simplicity. I need to read The Elements of Style again. I need to proofread and edit. I need to write fewer posts and make them better.

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