How to Deal With Your Messy Notes

It only hurts for a second.

Hi friends.

I wanted to let you know that I’m going to start doing monthly chats for subscribers, where you can ask me anything about writing, process, publishing, whatever. As someone who has published ten books over the last two decades, I may be able to answer some of your questions. If it seems like people are interested it’s possible I will do more of these chats or make them more targeted somehow? I don’t know yet. I’m just feeling my way around with some new ideas. But I do know I would like to be more of service to you if I can.

So! The first one is September 17, from 6-9 PM CST, which will hopefully be enough time for all of the time zones to check in. Pop-in whenever you can!

All right, moving on to today’s topic which is what to do with that big messy pile of words sitting in your notebook.

First of all, I promise: It only hurts for a second.

For the past few months—since the end of #1000wordsofsummer—I’ve been giving myself permission to make a mess in a brand-new notebook. My usual process is to look at what I’ve done every day (or every few days) and try to type it up. But I had written all these public-facing letters here, and I was still working so hard on finishing the new draft of the novel…I really just wanted a place to write freely and with abandon and not worry about what I would do with any of these words later. I needed a break from efficiency, or I needed to just be a different kind of writer for a while anyway.

But as I close in on the end of filling this notebook, I have been wondering lately if anything in it was good. I had written it all in a blur, with no intention but releasing myself. Still, I was pretty sure I needed to take a look.

Does this speak to you at all? Have you ever just made a mess with your writing without fear of cleaning it up and then realize you might be missing out on something good if you didn’t go through it? Or maybe you just want to know what the hell you’ve been thinking about all this time? Even though it might be potentially challenging?

Yesterday, for better or worse, I began to go through the notebook. Even though it was kind of the last thing I wanted to do. And I tracked what was helpful for me along the way step-by-step for you.