You’re Going To Waste A Lot Of Drafts As A Writer

And that's okay

In my “drafts” folder right now I have about 20 different stories. Some have 11 words, and some have 800 words. I call this my blog post graveyard.

One thing I’ve realized over the last few years is that you’re going to waste some drafts sometimes.

You’ll sit down and write 1,000 words in 2 hours then realize later it’s straight garbage and utterly un-publishable.

Or it could be dynamite, but you don’t want to publish it because it’s a little controversial.

I’ve had that happen to me a few times, too.

Luckily I have a few solutions for blog posts that go in the graveyard — and don’t worry, it’s completely natural to have this happen sometimes.

You’ll Just Publish Them Later (20% Of The Time)

Sometimes I fold something up, leave it in drafts, and move on with my day.

Then months later I may stumble upon my draft, think it’s pretty good, and decide to publish it straight up.

Sometimes a bad mood can make you believe something you just made is bad when in reality it’s about par for the course.

I think that 20 percent of the time, you’ll recover drafts you create and just decide to write a short conclusion and get that sucker published.

You’ll Re-Work It For An Hour Then Publish (10% Of The Time)

Sometimes I read an article I wrote in haste and decide to re-work the whole thing. You all know I can be a spirited writer sometimes and wear my emotions on the page. Looking at an article like that months later with un-emotional eyes can lead to some much-needed edits.

In a way, it’s like having a conversation with yourself.

With some of your posts, you’ll read them and do some major re-constructional surgery.

Good. At least you’re finishing something.

You’ll Write A Whole Other Blog Post (20% Of The Time)

Have you ever just opened up a draft, written a headline, then exited out after 20 minutes of banging your head against the wall trying to grab a first sentence?

That happens to me a lot.

I actually sometimes just use my drafts folder to save headlines. Then as I’m bored trying to come up with a topic, I wait for a headline to grab me.

One trick is to write the most ridiculous headline you can come up with.

Here’s one. “I hate my parents.”

Great work. I bet that’ll grab you. If you don’t write about how much you hate your parents, you’ll at least start thinking about them and maybe write something else.

Every time you get angry, sad, happy, or otherwise bothered about something, you should write some of these over-emotional headlines and then exit the page.

I mean, it’s better to just write, but writing down a few headlines is the next best thing.

You’ll Enjoy Reading Something You Wrote (10% Of The Time)

Why does everything we write on the internet have to be published? Maybe you’ll write a poem you didn’t like and then come back to it months later and thoroughly enjoy it.

Blog posts are just a snapshot of where we are at a certain point in time.

Reading these blog posts can be like pulling out a post card from our life.

Enjoy it. Maybe reading it will inspire another blog post.

Use every part of the buffalo.

Some Blog Posts Will Never Materialize (40% Of The Time)

I hate to say it, but about half the time your blog posts will never materialize. You’ll write a headline, get all excited, and nothing will come of it.

And that’s okay. Like my headline states, sometimes you’ll just waste some drafts.

This is par for the course in the writing world, and it’s nothing to be ashamed of. You sat down, you tried, and it may look like you failed.

But if nothing else, I hope this blog post shows you that these failed writing sessions can be redeemed many times down the road. Just because it’s a failure today doesn’t mean you can’t use what you made tomorrow.

Remember that, and keep your head.

It happens to the best of us.

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