A year or so ago, I wrote an essay about drafts being my secret weapon, and at the time, they were. Now, Ive learned a few things.
When I wrote my original essay, Im gonna say that I probably had 200-something drafts, many of which I was actively working on. And at that time, I was also writing like a fiend, producing 35 essays a day. Over the last nine months, Ive had to focus on other priorities, even taking a few months off from writing at all! That really hurt my ability to make a dent in my draft list.
And somehow I managed to add a few more. Or maybe close to 200 more, but whos counting?
Now, I click over to drafts and wonder, is this serving me? And even if it is, will this giant mess of ideas translate to better work than Id create if I were to just burn the whole thing to the ground?
Obviously, some mistakes have been made. Lets talk about them, and think about the solutions.
Are you a DRAFT HOARDER?
Welcome to my reality show. Its time to drop the shame and dive in before the cat skeletons of your abandoned pieces rot any further. As I plunge through my list, I want to help you do so as well.
Here are a few practical tips.
Free yourself from the responsibility of stories that no longer interest you. Drafts can be a wonderful thing because they allow you to store something you dont have the bandwidth to finish in one sitting. But a downside is pieces that have any sense of urgency or timeliness may lose those factors if they sit for too long. Take time to consider whether a piece still needs to be written.Remove anything under 50 words. Unless youre deeply passionate about the idea, consider deleting things that qualify more as ideas than drafts. For me, Id say its split. Ive found that I have some sentence-long drafts that spark passion, and others that no longer feel relevant at all.Make a little bit of progress every day: If possible, tackle at least one piece a day. Even if some days you just delete a piece youre not interested in, youll be able to make a dent in your listeventually.I can proudly say that in the last few days, Ive removed more than 20 drafts and Ive only added 3 more. Hey, Rome wasnt built in a day, and it certainly couldnt be dismantled in one.
To all of my fellow draft hoarders, happy deleting. Be sure to let me know how it goes!
