Monday, August 22, 2011

draftless. {challenge}

I want to fit. I want to be accepted, no matter what I do or what I say. I want to keep my fingers crossed and my eyes wide shut to the imperfections of this vessel that is me.

But I can't seem to shut my eyes as tight as I would like.

I can still see all the cracks. Every last cracked and battered shard until there is nothing but the damage.

After hours of thinking, this is what I realized.

i write too many drafts.


it's so much more than just saving now for later.

it's overthinking. overknowing.

it's too much.

and i can't stop myself.

i keep going back and

editing

editing

editing 

again and again until my inspiration has become uniform and my former dreams conform to yours.

but then i get scared of what you might think of me and i leave my draft unpublished.

another bit of broken pottery.

so i write another.

and another

and another

until my dashboard is flooded with orange italics and too many unfinished thoughts.

count your drafts. how many do you have, really? is it just one? is it five, or ten, or twenty, or one hundred?

four. four drafts too many.

not today. not this time.

no edits, no overthinking. just writing as i think, thinking as i write.

i am His first draft.

why can't this be mine?


This is me draftless.


This is my challenge to you. Don't think or edit or write countless drafts. Just sit at your computer and write. As long or as short as you wish...just let the words flow like water from your mind to your fingertips and out into the world. Then link up below. 

Take the plunge and go draftless. 



8 comments:

  1. I can feel with you. Even with writing, I'm afraid of what others think of it, so I hide what I write. I stow away, to scared to let others glimpse my true self.

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  2. This. Is. Awesome. I'm TOTALLY doing this :))
    -Jocee <3

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  3. So glad to know that I'm not the only one. I've written whole books and never got any further than the writing process. Because I keep second guessing myself and re-editing until they are nearly destroyed.
    I'll definitely be linking up ASAP.

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  4. Neato! :) You know, its interesting...my best writing happens when I just sit down and WRITE, without thinking, without worrying if it "sounds just right". (Sorry I just woke up...this isn't going to make much sense. ;) ) I've always wondered why writers NEED "first drafts." Often I'll go back to read something I've written, in its "first draft" stage, and I can't think of a thing that needs editing! Of course this only happens when I am perfectly relaxed and confident, when my brain is awake, working through my typing fingers. Only then am I truly satisfied with my work. :)

    Thanks for the encouragement, Rachel! <3

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  5. I do the same thing! If I ever start a draft, I'll probably never go back and finish it. My best posts were written in a single sitting, almost accidentally. The perfectionist in me could edit forever, but sometimes you just have to let it go, as is.

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  6. I linked up!! This is such a great idea!

    ♥ Johanna
    http://kidsonthefarm.blogspot.com

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  7. love this idea!!!

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  8. This is a test comment to see if they are working.

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I look at you and see all the ways a soul can bruise, and I wish I could sink my hands into your flesh and light lanterns along your spine so you know there's nothing but light when I see you. :: Shinji Moon