Musings

I'm just copying my father

Home

Thinking About Drafts

First Posted: 2018 October 101

Draft 3

As I mentioned in an earlier post,2 I plan to leave every draft of every post visible for all eternity.3 All of those drafts have come from a4 continuous writing,5 except in the case of the assignments I have posted, which have taken a few days.6

But, just because I’ve published7 a post doesn’t mean that it’s finished. I’ve left posts before I was satisfied because I was too tired to continue.8 Since my self defined obligation is writing daily, not writing well daily, it’s fine.

Nonetheless, a certain part of my personality9 demands satisfactory writing out of me. So, I may go back and update old posts. If so, I’ll make a note about the fact that I’ve edited them, and also add in the date of first publication, since that will become relevant afterwards.10

Draft 3

As I mentioned in an earlier post,11 I plan to leave every draft of every one of my posts visible for all eternity.12 All of those drafts have come from a single writing stint, except in the case of the assignments I have posted, which have taken a few days.13

But, just because I’ve published14 a post doesn’t mean that it’s finished. I’ve more than once left a post not because I was satisfied, but because I was too tired to continue.15 Since my self defined obligation is writing daily, not writing well daily, it’s fine.

Nonetheless, a certain part of my personality16 demands satisfactory writing out of me. So, I may go back and update old posts. If so, I’ll make a note about the fact that I’ve edited them, and also add in the date of first publication, since that will become relevant afterwards.17

New question: what about the drafts of my written assignments that I wrote earlier than the day that they were posted? I think I’m just going to ignore that in the past, and make an effort to remember in the future. Great.

Draft 2

As I mentioned in an earlier post,18 I’m leaving each draft of my posts up for all eternity.19 But, just because I’ve published20 a post doesn’t mean that it’s finished. I’ve more than once left a post not because I was satisfied, but because I was too tired to continue.21 Since my self defined obligation is writing daily, not writing well daily, it’s fine.

Nonetheless, a certain part of my personality22 demands satisfactory writing out of me. So, I may go back and update old posts. If so, I’ll make a note about the fact that I’ve edited them, and also add in the date of first publication, since that will become relevant afterwards.23 Now the question becomes: do I alert my24 readers about the changes. Advantages: looks like I’m writing even more, lets people see what polished me looks like. Disadvantages: spams other people, I’m not even sure if I want to remember. So, I think I’m not going to make notices when I revise a post, unless there’s a significant reason to. Woo25 good job writing by the seat of my pants26 take two.

Draft 1

As I mentioned in an earlier post,27 I’m leaving each draft of my posts up for all eternity.28 But, just because I’ve published29 a post doesn’t mean that it’s finished. Very often, I’ve left the post unsatisfied, but more tired than able to continue writing. So, I publish it and call it good enough.

But what happens when I decide to revise a post later? Should I just add another draft number to the top? Do I make a note after the draft, like “revised this date”? Ooh, does that mean I should start writing when each draft is written? I think I’m actually going to start doing that. Whoops, instead of solving an issue I just made another. Actually, this works. Now I can just add to new drafts, or even at the top of the page, updated this date. Great job writing at the speed of thought.


  1. the date format that makes the most sense↩︎

  2. it makes the sense that disclaimer is the first post with drafts, but I’m still surprised↩︎

  3. barring any unforeseen circumstances, or the foreseen ones listed in the post↩︎

  4. nominally↩︎

  5. i.e. I get distracted while writing, but the computer never closes and the document is never saved because I like to live dangerously↩︎

  6. because I am good student↩︎

  7. for a liberal definition of publishing↩︎

  8. sometimes I start too tired. Those tend to be the really short posts↩︎

  9. the Type A part↩︎

  10. I’m not going to do so ahead of time because that takes energy, and isn’t worth the effort right now, and I’ll probably forget to in the morning↩︎

  11. hmm I guess it makes the most sense for my disclaimer to be my first post that has drafts, but it was still a surprise↩︎

  12. barring any unforeseen circumstances, or the foreseen ones listed in the post↩︎

  13. I think↩︎

  14. for a generous definition of publishing↩︎

  15. sometimes I start too tired. Those tend to be the really short posts↩︎

  16. the type a part↩︎

  17. I’m not going to do so ahead of time because that takes energy, and isn’t worth the effort right now, and I’ll probably forget to in the morning↩︎

  18. hmm I guess it makes the most sense for my disclaimer to be my first post that has drafts, but it was still a surprise↩︎

  19. barring any unforeseen circumstances, or the foreseen ones listed in the post↩︎

  20. for a generous definition of publishing↩︎

  21. sometimes I start too tired. Those tend to be the really short posts↩︎

  22. the type a part↩︎

  23. I’m not going to do so ahead of time because that takes energy, and isn’t worth the effort right now, and I’ll probably forget to in the morning↩︎

  24. alleged↩︎

  25. Whoo? I have no clue how to spell that sound and refuse to look it up↩︎

  26. I swear that’s a metaphor I’ve heard↩︎

  27. I’m not going to look up which one↩︎

  28. barring any unforeseen circumstances↩︎

  29. for a generous definition of publishing↩︎