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If you’ve ever been proud of something you find easy to do, ask yourself this: Can talents become weaknesses?
I’m what you might call a “born” editor.
I started editing when I was in high school. My papers. My friends’ papers. I thought it was fun and interesting.
I continued this nerdy little “hobby” — which professionally goes by the name substantive editing — while I was in university. And, eventually, I turned the work into a fulltime job at a daily newspaper.
Not that I was ever any good at catching typos. It always amuses me when I get emails from readers apologizing for the spelling errors they’ve probably made. I’m virtually blind to such mistakes. I just don’t see them!
But I seem to have a natural ability to spot logical fallacies. To know whether writing is convincing enough. To determine whether the writer has made the point they’re aiming at. To understand when important information is missing or in the wrong place.
I didn’t study editing at school, although perhaps my forays into competitive debating helped sharpen a skill I was just naturally good at…
….Just like my naturally musical son started playing the piano at age four, by ear.
….Or my naturally athletic daughter got onto the national team for Ultimate after playing for only a year.
….Or my linguistically gifted friend Greg was able to pick up French and then Italian with unbelievable speed.
But did you know that the things we are really good at doing sometimes wind up being liabilities? For example:
- People who are good at listening don’t get the practice they need for speaking.
- People who are highly analytical seem to squeeze the joy and spontaneity out of the rest of life.
- People who are remarkably flexible limit themselves because they take too long to declare a path or make any decisions.
A 2013 book by Robert Kaiser and Robert Kaplan addressed this issue. Titled Fear Your Strengths, the book argues that strengths become weaknesses when overused. The authors write: “The more pronounced your natural talent and the stronger your strengths, the graver the risk of taking them to counterproductive extremes.”
This was certainly true for me with respect to writing.
I loved editing and, as a result, I hated writing, which seemed hard and boring by comparison.
I would write one sentence — on a good day, maybe two — and the trauma of that “writing work” made me long for something easy and fun, so I’d stop writing immediately and start editing.
This stop-and-start process not only made writing slow, it also made it miserable. As a result, I avoided doing it.
I find that roughly 70% of my clients are the same. Many of them are lawyers, engineers, business owners or academics who work in a world where linear, logical thought is highly prized.
The problem for those of us who do this type of work is that we find it hard to get access to the creative part of our brains, where the best — and easiest — writing always occurs.
And the 30% of my clients whose problem is the reverse — they love writing but hate editing — find it tough to get access to the linear, logical parts of their brains.
The advice from book authors Kaiser and Kaplan?
- Be aware of yourself. “This requires knowing your default tendencies — for instance if you are more achievement-oriented and commanding, then you may be biased to respond too forcefully,” they say.
- Be aware of the situation: “Think of adjusting strengths like a volume control,” they write. “The trick is to get the setting just right for the situation — from soft music for a quiet, intimate exchange, to a louder and lively level for a dance party.”
As for me, I have lots of small and specific tips for writers, but my general advice is:
- Start small — really small: Many people overdo it when they try to create a writing or editing habit. I suggest beginning with no more than five to 15 minutes per day. Writing or editing every day for a short amount of time will make the work more enjoyable, more predictable and more sustainable. (And don’t worry. You can always increase your amount of time in a couple of weeks.)
- Get some accountability: It’s hard to do things we don’t enjoy and don’t feel we’re naturally good at. That’s where accountability can make a huge difference. Find a buddy to whom you can report every day. And if that feels too daunting, consider signing up for my Get It Done program where you can work with roughly 50 other writers doing exactly the same thing as you.
You may have been born with (or without) certain talents. But having what’s called a “growth mindset” — a deeply held belief that you can improve your performance — means you’re not limited by talent.
If you want to become better at something, know that you can learn to do it.
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Need some help developing a better, more sustainable writing or editing routine? Learn about my three-month accountability program called Get It Done. There is turn-over each month, and priority will go to those who have applied first. You can go directly to the application form and you’ll hear back from me within 24 hours.
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My video podcast last week addressed how to write to a specified character count. Go here to see the video or read the transcript, and you can also subscribe to my YouTube channel.
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Can talents become weaknesses? How do you deal with that conundrum? We can all learn from each other, so please, share your thoughts with my readers and me in the “comments” section, below. And congratulations to Juliann, the winner of this month’s book prize, for a comment on my recent blog about what learning French has to do with writing. (Please send me your email address, Juliann.) If you comment on today’s post (or any others) by Oct. 31/24, I’ll put you in a draw for a digital copy of my first book, 8 1/2 Steps to Writing Faster, Better. To leave your own comment, please scroll down to the section directly underneath the “related posts” links, below. Note that you don’t have to join the commenting software to post. See here to learn how to post as a guest. It’s easy!
