About Second Drafts

It’s been a long time coming (or so it has seemed) getting back into the blogosphere in earnest. For those who might be interested, I previously blogged on the TwentySomeone site for three years or so (August 2003-January 2006), as well as made a recent 2-3 week trial attempt at a MySpace account (the latter's not my best work, but there was some good stuff "back in the day" on the former). All that to say, I'm back.

Here's what you need to know about Second Drafts:

My friend and TwentySomeone co-author, Doug Serven, is right when he says the idea of writing a book is a lot more appealing than actually doing it. In fact, a lot of bookwriting (at least in our experience) amounts to "vomiting on the page" and then rearranging what sticks. Doug is fond of the vomiting part; I tend to tolerate the rearranging (though we each did a fair amount of both).

Likewise, life is much like bookwriting, as so much of living is really editing what we and others "throw up" (again, continuing the vomit metaphor). Anyone can come up with a first draft of something; writing the second draft, however - revising thoughts, letting go of bad choices, and improving the overall whole of the manuscript - is the more difficult part of the process...and the most rewarding.

So, with that in mind (and just to be sure I run the metaphor fully into the ground), my goal is always to think about life "editorially" - listening for Voice, considering word choice, getting rid of fluff. You're invited to bring your red pen along (or your purple one if red is too threatening) and mark things up with me, or just wait around for the finished project.

A word of warning, though: if you wait, you'll probably wait a long time. Writing and life are both too confusing without community. You're welcome (and wanted) as part of mine.