10 Things Every Writer and Editor Doesn't Do
But pretends they do (they shouldn’t)
Last time, I shared what we writers and editors actually do, even when we pretend we don’t.
Now, here’s the flip side — things we don’t do but act like we do.
Stuff we don’t actually do… but claim we do anyway.
To sound productive. To look like we’ve figured it out.
We haven’t.
I pulled out 10 of those things. If you’re also a writer or editor, tell me if any of these hit a little too close.
And if you’ve got more? Comments are open.
So, starting…
- We skip writing days — a lot
We say we write daily.
But some days, we reorganize drawers, stare out windows, scroll on social media aimlessly, watch pointless videos, and write absolutely nothing.
Later, we say, “I’m drafting something new.”
2. We don’t finish half the books we recommend
We love the idea of being “well-read.”
But many of our favorite books have bookmarks stuck somewhere in Chapter 4.
Still, we recommend them like we wrote the foreword.
3. We hype our drafts more than we feel
We tell people, “This one felt strong.”
But behind the scenes, we edited that ending ten times and still weren’t sure.
I’m still not sure about my 7 drafts sitting on my Medium profile.
4. We break our own writing rules
We say things like “avoid filler words.”
Then we write sentences that ramble, wander, and sort of go nowhere.
We know better. But here we are.
5. We treat routines like myths
We talk about writing rituals like they’re sacred.
Candles. Clean desks. Golden hours.
But most days, we write in a messy bed with a dying phone battery and a snack in hand.
6. We guess our way through the process
When someone asks how we plan our work, we answer with confidence.
Truth? We just open a doc and wing it.
Sometimes it works. Sometimes it’s chaos.
7. We fake love for books we hated
We nod along when people mention “important” novels.
But deep down, we couldn’t wait to finish them… or didn’t.
8. We write under pressure, not inspiration
We say we wait for the mood to strike.
But when a deadline looms, we miraculously find our flow.
Fear is a strong motivator.
9. We flinch at feedback
We claim we’re open to critique.
But one sharp comment? It lives in our head for a week and ruins our whole mood and snack break.
10. We obsess over published work
We hit publish and pretend we’ve moved on.
But we reread our own stuff, spot tiny things we want to fix, and mentally rewrite entire lines.
And then. we keep checking stats every 2 minutes.
Writers and editors don’t always practice what we preach.
We mess up. We mask it. We move on.
But the pretending? That’s part of the job too.
We are humans too. So, we make mistakes too.
And maybe that’s what makes us good at what we do.