3 Reasons Your Writing Needs Critical Distance
UPDATED FEB 2024
The COVID-19 pandemic changed most things about our lives, including how we write and create. For some, being in lockdown meant writing all the time - it was the only way we could escape. For others, writing took a back seat to other responsibilities and the collective chaos.
If you’re like me and find yourself up to your ears in writing that hasn’t been edited, from the pandemic or otherwise, it’s key to incorporate some critical distance into your writing process.
What is Critical Distance?
The idea of critical distance is simple. Writers get critical distance when they write something and then take a specific amount of time away from that writing.
During their time away, writers don’t look at their writing at all. They can work on other projects, or just take a break from writing altogether - it depends on the individual!
Writers use critical distance to improve their writing.
Writers use critical distance to improve their writing. First drafts aren’t always great (they’re not always terrible either), so taking time away from it helps strengthen the piece as a whole.
How Long Should Critical Distance Be?
Because critical distance is specific to each writer, there is not a firm set of rules. The beautiful thing about it is that each writer can start with one goal, say a day or two, and learn as they go along.
When I teach English, I always advise my students to use a critical distance strategy. Since their writing is 10 pages or less, I generally advise a pretty short critical distance time. This is also because they are students, most of them procrastinate (I was the worst when I was in school), and most are trying to balance life with their schooling.
Outside the classroom, things are a little different!
Outside the classroom, things are a little different! Most of us probably aren’t writing researched essays, or having to present them to a class of our peers. Some writers are working on short stories or novels. Some are working on essays or columns for publication. Some are blogging just like me!
Whatever type of writing you’re doing, you will have to make the judgment call about how long you think it will take to really get a break from your own words. The ideal time is when you feel refreshed and don’t recall every single word, but you also don’t lose all the focus you’ve worked so hard to maintain during the writing process.
Here are some ideas to help you decide:
Short writing (< 10 pages) - 1-2 days
The fewer pages there are of your writing, the less time it will take to read and re-read!
No matter how long it takes you to write 10 pages, chances are it won’t take you nearly as long to read 10 pages.
Taking a brief 1 -2 day critical distance break can give you a reprieve, but also allow you to get back to your work pretty quickly. You don’t want to spend too much time away, but a little is sure to be helpful.
Moderate writing (20-50 pages) - 4-5 days
When you get into the 20-50 page range, you’ve spent a considerable amount of time on your work. It’s probably been at least days, if not weeks or months. It will also take you longer to re-read and process when you go back to it.
Whether you’re a daily writer, or a weekend warrior, moderate writing needs more time to settle than something shorter.
This isn’t at all to say that moderate length writing is easier than shorter or longer writing - on the contrary, the middle length is tricky! Many times, writing in this range will be submitted for publication or needs to meet a specific word/page requirement. This likely means you will either be adding content, or trimming to fit all of your thoughts concisely in the required space.
Taking a longer critical distance time of 4-5 days - about a business week - will allow your brain to focus on other things around you. Whether you’re a daily writer, or a weekend warrior, moderate writing needs more time to settle than something shorter.
Longer writing (50+ pages) - 1-2 weeks (or more)
After you get past about 50 pages, you’re probably working on a novella or a novel. As you know, novels can be really long, and really complex! Cloud Atlas? Ulysses? Game of Thrones?
Even if you don’t think your novel is the stuff of an HBO mega series (mine isn’t, and that’s not my goal), it will still take you many hours of blood, sweat, and tears to put together.
Those of us who have finished writing a novel can tell you it’s something incredibly special. No matter your view on first drafts, there’s nothing in the world like finishing one. It can be hard to come back with fresh eyes knowing you probably need some changes or updates, but also knowing that you poured your heart into that first draft.
Remember, the ultimate goal is to make our writing better.
Longer writing needs a longer critical distance. In fact, the longer the writing, the more time it will take to be able to take a full-on stop. After all, sometimes novels can take years to write! I would recommend at least a week or two, but if you’ve been working for years on your novel, you might need longer than that.
Remember, the ultimate goal is to make our writing better.
Why Should You Use Critical Distance?
So right about now, critical distance might seem like a mixed bag.
It might be helpful, but sounds like a lot of extra time in the writing process?
It sounds awful, and sounds like it’s an excuse to stop writing for a little bit?
It sounds alright, but still not quite sure what it would do for your writing?
Here’s the thing: Writing needs critical distance.
Critical distance allows for:
Fresh Eyes
Have you ever stared at the page so long your eyes burned? Or started a sentence only to realize halfway through that you have no idea where it was going?
This is super common! If we’re being honest, it happens to the best of us probably more than we’d like to admit.
It’s all about perspective.
One of the best things about critical distance is that the time away gives us the ability to look at our words again with fresh eyes. We see things we were too glazed over to see before (or maybe saw but didn’t have the heart to change). We read that half sentence and remember what we wanted to say, or think of something even better!
It’s all about perspective, and you, my fair writer, have the wonderful opportunity to look at your words and give them a face lift when you take some critical distance time away from them.
Clarification of Your Message
How many times do you take notes only to be baffled later by what in the world you meant. Of course you knew it in the moment, perhaps during a meeting or fevered brainstorming moment, but you sure can’t figure it out now!
Our writing is the same. When we get into a frenzy, we sometimes think we’re making sense and being clear yet creative only to find out later that we talked ourselves into a big old circle and repeated the same idea 3 times. Or we’ve gone off on an unrelated tangent that made sense in the moment. These are writer-friendly patterns, and they feel okay to write, but they’re awfully confusing to read.
Taking a period of critical distance allows you to make your writing more expressive and articulate than it was in its first draft form.
Taking a period of critical distance allows you to make your writing more expressive and articulate than it was in its first draft form. You have the chance to add new vocab, revamp characters who are important but got lost in the shuffle, and even do some rewriting if something is awkward or off the wall.
Your message has a much better chance of shining through and expressing what you want to say after you’ve had some time to read it through and think like a reader.
Time to See (and Subsequently Fix) Errors and/or Inconsistencies
I love autocorrect! … Said no one. Ever. And yet, the major digital writing tools we use all seem to have some form of error tracking. Whether it’s using the wrong word (we see you their/there/they’re), or using a comma where it shouldn’t be, these tools can help us figure out where we missed something.
The problem starts when these programs suggest words we don’t actually want to use or try to make our phrases more concise even when we don’t want them to be. Sometimes I just want to use a longer phrase, dang it!
Taking a period of critical distance helps us read back through for things like typos, wrong words (spelled correctly so the program didn’t notice it), and grammar. When you’ve been looking at the darn thing for months at a time, it’s much harder to notice those details because that’s not what you’re focused on.
The other thing critical distance helps us fix are plot holes and inconsistencies.
Does your main character have an accent at the beginning of the novel but not the end? Did you accidentally start calling one of your main characters a different name throughout the last 100 pages? (Speaking from experience here, Control F is the BEST!) Did your characters somehow just appear in another country without any sort of transportation being mentioned?
These are all things that you might not notice in the first draft writing, but you will after you get some critical distance, and your readers will certainly see and point out if you don’t find them.
So what do you think?
Critical distance should be a part of every writer’s process, no matter how short the writing. It gives us a valuable chance to look at our writing with a fresh perspective, clarify our message, and find inconsistencies and errors we made during our initial drafting.
You are the ultimate decision-maker on how long your critical distance time should be. Keep in mind, the longer the writing, the more time you will need to process and release your mindset.
Have you used critical distance? Are you starting to see how this strategy could fit into your writing process? I’d love to hear about it - drop a comment below!