Draft Overload
When writing is a struggle we love.
While writing, I noticed something that disturbed me. The amount of drafts I had that were piling up was becoming unreasonable. These were not all pages of one vague sentence either, almost complete articles and stories that I was holding back. Why? Waiting to find the perfect matching image? Haven’t “edited sober”? When would I?
I have to confess I have a struggle. I avoid the word “problem” because I believe it is not a normal tax or side effect of writing. The struggle is that I hesitate. I will try to instill perfectionism on my work before I will dare let anyone else see it. Did I write this for me? Am I doing this for recognition or approval? What is my audience? Should I care?
This isn’t a problem, but the process of writing. If you haven’t heard this a million times, which I know you have, you have now. You will have to write and write and write, let it be garbage, and then start over and write more.
Your passion for sharing ideas with others is a noble one and sometimes seems like a thankless job, regardless of the comments and follows. However we must write for a higher purpose than social and financial gain for our work to be meaningful. You must feel a calling to share what you learned.
Maybe today you will feel a calling and go through your drafts. Its likely there are pieces of your soul you’ve been holding back from the world.
During one of the hardest times of my life, my uncle gave me some advice that did not make sense to me at first, but later hit me like a wet brick.
“Maybe this isn’t for you.”
Paul 2018
