You need to talk about your writing

Find a good devil’s advocate.

Writing is a mostly solitary activity. The actual act, most certainly. And very often the whole project. Creative writ

ers often keep everything a secret right until the end. There are very good reasons for that. One of them is that the creative process is very personal, mysterious, emanating from the depths of the unconscious and following all sorts of curvy paths until it finds its resolution. Attempts to articulate it and bring it into the light too soon can kill it, or flatten it. But that is a whole other conversation.

As writers of technical and academic material, on the other hand, you are working from a different place – mainly the head. Your heart might be involved and you might be very personally invested, but that has to stay out of the actual work. Your work is a result of your cognitive processes. It is up for scrutiny and will be assessed against objective criteria.

It’s very good to talk about your project early on. A good devil’s advocate – meaning someone who understands what you’re doing and who is also a good listener – will point out any logical flaws or gaps in your plan, challenge any assumptions you are making, and identify areas that could leave the reader confused. Remember that no matter the kind of text you are working on – a report, a case study, an essay, a long paper, a dissertation, a thesis, a journal article, a chapter in a book, a whole book, a blog, an op-ed, – you are always in some way answering a question for the reader. And your devil’s advocate, who might raise some very annoying points, and just be annoying in general – is ultimately helping you do this.

You should be able to talk about it without any props or prompts or aids. So have the conversation away from any paper or screens. This will also force you both to stay focused and engaged and to speak in plain English.