Writing away

When I logged into my blog this morning, I checked on all my postings and stared at the numerous drafts I had stored. I never returned to most of them. They're like abandoned thoughts and ideas, and I honestly think most of them actually embark on interesting notions. Geez... this is perhaps where my problem lies because to let you in my secret, this is so typical of me.

I have one folder in my computer where I keep a journal to jot down my ideas and reactions to articles I read. Some say it's a good start. Personally, I think it's BAD because I never come back to the scribbles to develop them into something worth reading. The different entries can never be incorporated into one. (By the way, I somehow have a funny feeling that this entry will never be posted. )

Through this behaviour of mine, it is easy to figure what sort of person I am. I like things to be done immediately : A-S-A-P. Why? Because procrastination is the enemy that's stalking me. The end result? If I'm lucky, I'd get a awesome showpiece. If it's the usual hey, pronto, then it's probably an average. On bad days, it's a total crap.

I am thus reminded of the task of writing essays back in the school days. Our teacher would remind us to :
1) spend a good 5-10 minutes planning your essay
2) start writing
3) spend the last 10 minutes editing your work - check for grammatical accuracy, punctuation, choice of words, development of ideas, bla bla bla..

And, throughout my years of learning the art of teaching, I too, found that the steps were essential. Still, I hated editting my work as a student (errr, seldom went through them post-writing!).

There are other writing strategies language teachers often recommend: quick writing and free writing. Quick writing is when you write on a specified topic(eg: books) within an allocated time (say, 10 minutes). You scribble as much as your pen takes you on the topic, noting everything that comes into mind. On the other hand, free writing is when you write on ANYTHING of your choice for an allocated time (perhaps, 10 minutes also). The idea is to exercise the brain to be creative, while the hand tries to catch up with the interesting development.

Perhaps I've been exercising draft writing. If the topic is worth coming back to, then I will (when????). If not, then I will go on my adventure, looking for interesting things to reflect on.

I have to stop now and get this published. Just for the sake of it.

pause and reflect: go back to old drafts and transform them into better pieces!