Feel free to write garbage. Don't keep it.

Have you ever noticed that your first paragraph for an article is usually garbage? Really, take a closer look. Chop off that first paragraph and read the article without it. Maybe you need a new opening sentence, maybe not. But, chances are that first paragraph was not essential. Chances are, it was garbage, disposable to be polite.

I think when we start writing we are introducing ourselves to the article. In that first paragraph we are getting organized, orienteering our brain around all the information and ideas we have gathered. The reader doesn't need that preview, it's really just for us.

We may have spent all last night, awake, coming up with that perfect sentence However, when it's actually there, that's all it is. It's alone, idle, the perfect sentence like a cherry on top of a sundae, non-essential. Eye candy for the writer. No real point for the reader.

Consider that first paragraph your writing warm up. Don't grimace as you delete it. Just delete it. If there really is something salvageable try sticking it in somewhere else complimentary. Where else would that point make sense and add something to your article? If there is no place for it consider using it to bolster your conclusion or create that new opening sentence. If, you aren't just trying to save your own genius.

Don't be afraid of over-pruning your article. The fewer words the stronger your point will be. Your focus will be sharper and clearer too. Those are important things. Much more important than saving that decadent and delightful sentence you came up with while driving your kids to school this morning.

Happy writing.

"Good communication is as stimulating as black coffee, and just as hard to sleep after." - Anne Morrow Lindbergh

"I must write it all out, at any cost. Writing is thinking. It is more than living, for it is being conscious of living." - Anne Morrow Lindbergh

"One cannot collect all the beautiful shells on the beach. One can collect only a few, and they are more beautiful if they are few." - Anne Morrow Lindbergh

"If you always do what interests you, at least one person is pleased." - Katharine Hepburn