Second And Park — Web Copy That Works by Tiffani Jones

After becoming massively frustrated over the past few weeks trying to stick to an ambitious writing schedule while producing subpar ideas, I was reminded of Jeffrey Zeldman’s awesome post, Write When Inspired.

Common sense says that to be good writer, you just need to write—constantly. Good advice, but when it comes to publishing, it’s not smart to put every little thing you eek out on the web as a way of meeting your editorial or content strategy, or generating traffic.

The best writing comes when you’re actually interested in and committed to what you’re about to say.

Here’s an outtake from Zeldman’s post, pertinent especially for bloggers and non-staff writers:

You are not writing for Amazon, or to fit a staff proofreader’s vacation schedule, as important and real as those considerations may be. You are writing for readers, a duty as sacred, in its way, as parenting. If you don’t believe the previous sentence, if you think writing is mainly about getting paid, I’m sorry you wasted your time reading this page, and I hope you find another way to earn a living soon. The world is already choking on half-considered, squeezed-out shit. There’s no need to add to the pile.