Every draft happens for a reason
Finding meaning amidst the unexpected highs and lows of life as a writer
The phrase, “Everything happens for a reason,” has never sat quite right with me. I like to think we have some kind of agency in life, and that phrase sucks the wind right out of those sails.
While I don’t believe “everything happens for a reason,” I do believe you can reason to find meaning in just about everything that happens.
It might sound esoteric, and it might sound unrelated to life as a writer, but bear with me.
What brings you here?
Why’d you become a writer? This isn’t rhetorical. I want you to stop and actually ask yourself, and respond in kind.
If you just happen to be good at it and you’re writing for a living, your heart and love lying elsewhere, that’s totally fine. (You can probably check out of this piece now, even! You lucky, professional dog, you.)
For the rest of us, maybe you’re writing because:
You like writing.
You want to tell stories, whether your own or those of businesses.
You have a passion for creating stuff.
You didn’t know what else to major in and decided on English.
Whatever your reason, you’re here now. You put letters and words and a few too many em dashes on screens. Maybe you’re fancy and you drag a real pen or pencil across the page every now and again, too.
No matter your reason for writing, there will come a time when your work is at odds with your reason for embarking on this path.
When writing turns to writhing
I love writing. I love the brainstorming, researching, outlining, editing, angrily backspacing a section into oblivion, writing some more. I love it all. Yet I’ll never forget the first time I found the work itself at odds with my love for the craft.
Bright-eyed and optimistic, I’d just turned in a press release. I was a few months into my first full-time writing job. I was nervous, excited, and learning all I could. A couple hours after sending my press release, my email went off, alerting me to comments from my editor.
I opened the doc and saw red copy and comments everywhere. A few paragraphs in was a comment I’ll never forget:
“WTF is this shit?”
Years later, I now realize this editor was neither helpful nor professional. Still, that comment absolutely crushed my enthusiasm at the time, not to mention my confidence.
For some of my old coworkers, a similar moment occurred when they realized they hated the research process of content marketing. Others didn’t do well with outlining, often writing themselves into a hole too deep for even the most aggressive backspacing. And then there are those who realized they hated writing about any industry that didn’t interest them.
But, one can reason to find meaning in just about everything. Right? Including those moments where you’re writhing around at your desk in frustration.
Reason in rough drafts
There aren’t any quick tips or bulleted cure-alls for this mess of a problem. At least, I don’t have any kind of magical solution yet.
(I do have some thoughts and actionable tips related to some of these problems, but they’re not ready. So you have to wait. Sorry. Life happens, and a whole lot of it’s happened as of late!)
Years ago, when I was that young writer on the receiving end of the worst of the worst edits, I struggled to find meaning in that moment. I didn’t have confidence in my writing and this editor had confirmed my worst fears.
Months and years later, I found myself reflecting on those edits and that particular comment. A reflection I found myself staring at far more than I’d care to admit. During one of my regular visits to this moment, I had an aha moment.
Or, in keeping with the theme of this newsletter, I found the meaning of that moment.
Those edits rattled me, but they also reminded me to be careful with my writing. To make sure I was proud of every single word I put on the page, whether it was my 500th press release or a ghost-written thought piece for a CEO.
In short, those edits pushed me to be better than the writer I was the draft before.
You won’t always find the meaning in the moment, no matter how hard you reason. And even if you find it, it might wait for months or years to be found. I think that’s true for writing and life in general. There’s still a laundry list of personal experiences and life events I don’t fully understand.
Whether you’re the writer at odds with your industry, the optimist battling with your editor, or a wordsmith struggling with some yet-to-be-discovered wordy woe, remember…
Even the roughest of drafts can show us the way to a beautiful final piece.