That’s obvious, yes, but we often don’t stop to think about all of the versions of a piece of content that existed before it was published. Your version of the Necessary Mess might look completely different. Write what’s easy If you’re trying to achieve the quality of another author’s “highlight reel” when you write your first draft, you’re likely going to be disappointed and frustrated with your “behind the scenes.” Instead, write what feels easy, even if your ideas aren’t fully formed. My go-to tactic for a while has been to type the word “something” over and over again in a digital document. I eventually get tired of looking at the word “something” and what I really want to write about emerges. Schedule enough time You can afford to spend time “writing what’s easy” when you don’t have a tight deadline. If you don’t give yourself enough time to write, you’re going to feel pressure to write the Most Eloquent Words in Your Brain right away. They need the time to explore “decent,” “weird,” and “good enough” in order to arrive at “best.” 3. Sculpt your art As I mentioned before, you’re not going to publish the Necessary Mess; it’s a tool that helps you uncover the main point of your article. Then you remove the parts that convolute your main point.
I wrote about writing practice last week for a specific reason.
Summer is quickly arriving here in the Northern Hemisphere, and when the seasons change, I reevaluate my habits and goals.
- What should I stop doing (aka, What’s not working?)
- What could I optimize?
- What would I like to add to my routine?
You probably see where I’m going with this … you can also seize this time to refine your habits and goals.
And if your writing sessions ever feel unproductive, I have an eye-opener that will help you approach them with more ease.
Introducing the Necessary Mess
One reason we struggle w/ insecurity: we’re comparing our behind the scenes to everyone else’s highlight reel.
— Steven Furtick (@stevenfurtick) May 10, 2011
If you’re not an editor, the articles you read online are the final versions of those articles.
That’s obvious, yes, but we often don’t stop to think about all of the versions of a piece of content that existed before it was published.
It might look like it was created effortlessly.
You picture the author opening up their WordPress dashboard, selecting a New Post, and typing out a coherent draft. After a little editing and proofreading, they’re ready to publish.
If it were only that straightforward.
So, today I want to highlight what goes on in Draft Mode, especially the nonsensical nature of most drafts.
The first version of an article typically just needs to translate an idea into some words.
Here’s a sample of one of mine.
My handwriting is sloppy. There is no logical order. It’s simply what I needed to start crafting my thoughts … and it eventually led to the post you’re reading right now.
If you look closely at the image above (please don’t), you’ll see that the term “Necessary Mess” was originally “ugly…
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