Another busy day. I wrote this afternoon at some length about how frustrating it is to be a queer woman who wants to wear long hair, but I was boring even myself. SO. In lieu of that, here is something from my unpublished archives, tidied up a bit.

I mentioned a few days ago that I recently took Erica Midkiff's Explore course on intentional writing. I wanted to build a backlog of content for my business blog (based on my shiny new editorial calendar). I hoped to make my business blog relevant to me personally as well as valuable to you, dear reader.  I spent a lot of time last month writing, which can be painful. I spent a lot of time thinking: “Geez, Erica, don't you think writing about overwhelming joy is a little intense to answer first thing in the morning? UGH WHY DID I DO THIS”.

She provided a great wrap-up guide, which involved reading what I'd written and collating it into related groups.  Then re-reading.  Then processing it some more.  It was a slow, arduous process that involved me writing lists, then rewriting lists. Reading, then re-reading. Sorting, re-sorting. It took the better part of a Saturday. 

What I learned, or perhaps just remembered, is that it takes time to get things right.  That the process of small, iterative change is as relevant in writing as it is in software design. It's okay to write a list, and then to re-write that list.  You're not going to get it right the first time, and that extra little bit of time to re-do it will get you feeling squared up, right as rain. 

I also finished my first Bullet Journal, which encourages the act of re-writing and reviewing. If something isn't worth ten seconds to rewrite–it's not worth doing.

What a relief. 

Perusing other bullet journals shows me that I'm definitely not a remarkable bullet journallers.  My notebook is kept in a cheap composition book, with the pen at hand. It's sloppy. I definitely don't decorate it or practice my handwriting.  It's helping me slow down, process and process and process again until I feel truly happy with the result.  I have always been more of a raw than a cooked kind of writer, but maybe in my old age I'm slowing down to chew my food.

It's a funny thing to revisit this process in the midst of what feels like a breakneck writing project. But you can't re-write what you don't write. And so, on to the next day.