How do you reboot your system?

My book is finally written, and now two friends of mine are conducting a final edit to ensure I don’t publish this thing with spelling errors.

Thank you, ladies. I truly appreciate your help.

One of my editors sends me an email this morning. On top to stating that she loves my book so far she made the following remark: “You really love commas, don’t you?”

Yes, I really, really do.

This isn’t the first time I’ve heard this statement. Throughout my CreComm career, people have constantly commented on the fact that I use a lot of commas when I write anything. This is a habit that I picked up in university, and it has stuck with me. For four years I was responsible for writing 10-20 page essays. When you have five due within the same week, you begin to use lots of commas – as well as many, many adjectives – to make the paragraphs stretch.

When I handed my first journalism story in during the second week of CreComm, my instructor immediately zoned in on the fact that I was a long-winded university essay writer. He told me to cut the adjectives out, leave in only what was necessary, and STOP WRITING when I had nothing left to say. I followed his advice closely, and it’s served me well thus far in my program.

The only problem is that I can’t seem to stop using commas when I write. It is a habit that is so engrained in my mind that it’s simply second-nature. And this leads me to the question that is the title of this post: how do you reboot your system?

How do I successfully teach myself to stop writing with so many commas? How do I undo my entire university career? This is something that has been bothering me for years, and I’ve honestly tried everything to make this habit go away.

Maybe it’s just my style, and I should continue to do what I do?

Or maybe I should try to forget everything I’ve learned, and start over?

I don’t know. It’s a problem.