Sometimes It’s as Easy as Just Changing the Title
Don’t make it more difficult than you have to.
When writing and working on other projects, I have an uncanny ability to over-complicate things. Don’t get me wrong. I come up with a logical solution to problems that arise, but when I revisit my solution, I realize that I could have made my life easier by making a smaller change somewhere else.
Keeping things simple is something I try to live by, and it’s a work in progress. I get so excited that I have a solution that works, I get tunnel vision and just start plugging away at my solution. Here are two techniques that I follow and try to remember to keep things in perspective when writing.
Write the title last.
Use a single word as the title if you need a placeholder.
I remember writing a few articles and starting them with very specific titles only to realize the content I’m writing has nothing to do with the title. This is embarrassing to admit, but I actually deleted the content I wrote when it didn’t match my title. It wasn’t the content I wanted to write for my title so it had to go.
When I used to write the title first, my mind was so set on my content having to revolve around the title to maintain consistency that I thought anything that I wrote that didn’t line up with my title should be deleted, not realizing those words I deleted might have just been words I needed to get out of my head for different article in the future.
To be blunt, it was stupid to delete the content I wrote when it didn’t match my title. What I should have done was change my title. You may have known that, and good job to you if you did, but I really loved the titles I wrote. I didn’t want to drop my titles so I dropped the body of my work. Take it from me, don’t do this. Don’t just delete the work you created. There’s a better way.
Save your tangents.
Don’t waste your words.
If you notice that your content and your title aren’t matching up, you can just save a new draft and name it with the title that no longer fits, then rename the title of the article you have written. Looking back, I still have no idea why I thought it was a good idea to just delete my content and start from scratch.
The words you write are important and while they may not match what you’re currently working on, they might match up with something you’ll think of in the future. During my writing adventures, I’ve realized that my writing isn’t always focused for what I’m working on, but my mind was writing something for me in the future. Life’s all about timing. :)
