Why your drafts sit unfinished (and how to set them free)
For creators who love the flow but fear the edit
💫 The Magic
All writers talk about the fear of a blank screen. But what about the fear of facing what you’ve written?
Writing when you’re inspired is easy, even sexy.
When inspiration visits me, it feels like a cosmic download. I’m riding the waves of adrenaline with thoughts arriving faster than I can type. It’s messy and thrilling. I feel like I’m a scribe to something otherworldly. I’m in flow without second-guessing my words.
Who doesn’t love and crave that flow state??
🧹 The Mess
Then comes the hard part: going back.
You open the stream-of-consciousness draft and think,
“What the hell am I saying?”
“Why does this sound like a TED Talk hosted by my drunk uncle?”
People say editing is like sculpting. Chipping away at what’s not yours until the form reveals itself.
For me, it feels more like sorting through garbage.
I’m elbow-deep in old scraps—peels of pretentious metaphors, unnecessary tangents, bloated ideas I thought were brilliant at 2 a.m. Trying to figure out what’s salvageable, and what needs to go (It’s called a shitty first draft for good reason).
And I get it! Sorting through your creative mess is hard. Not because it’s tedious. Because you’ve to re-read your vulnerable thoughts with a red pen.
You’ve to face the version of yourself who thought they nailed it and proudly pressed Save! And tell them their thoughts don’t make palatable reading. It stings and it’s hard not to take it personally. 😶🌫️
🤝 The Responsibility
But while journaling is for you, publishing is for your readers. And that demands a different kind of care. You gotta take the trash out before you light the candle, fluff the pillows, and invite people over.
Your writing doesn’t need to be the Sistine Chapel. But you also don’t want it to be like Ross’s messy girlfriend’s apartment (hopefully).
But here’s the other thing to avoid — getting stuck in a cycle of forever embellishing and never publishing.
This hit me hard today when I opened Google Docs and saw nine nearly-finished drafts. Pieces I’d poured myself into, nothing more than ghosts of ideas hovering in my Drive.
But if those ideas chose to materialise through me, then I owe them more than a Google Doc graveyard.
As a writer, I feel responsible
To the ideas that chose you as their collaborator, and
To the readers who’ll one day meet them.
And if you, like me, need a reminder – return to your old drafts and give them closure.
Because somewhere under the mess there's something honest.
Give your words a home, not a hiding spot.
Keep creating, sorting and sharing 💡♻️📩
Akhila
P.S. I got the idea to write this when I was reading Akkshaya’s post. And the magic part is inspired from Elizabeth Gilbert who has forever changed the way I look at creativity.