My worst writing habit is that I think paragraphs look best when they’re justified, but I don’t know how to properly justify text myself. And so, I play this stupid little game with myself where I try to write up to the margin. As I write, I’ll play with my words to get them as close as possible to the edge. That doesn’t just mean rewriting the current sentence I’m on but going back and reworking words a few sentences back in the hopes of making everything fit better. Is this a good way to write? No. Is this a sane way to write? No. Is it a compulsive way to distract yourself from what you’re actually trying to say because you have no control over the place you’re writing and it’s antagonizing your ingrained sense, from years of reading professionally published books and magazines, that words are supposed to be justified? Yes. And the dumbest part of all is that I write for the width of this box my laptop screen with zero promises that it’ll look the same way when read on a phone. And yet, it’s impossible still not to care.
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