Got clutter in your hard drive?
(your mental hard drive counts as well!).
In this post, I will appear to contradict myself, so bear with me.
My premise? Sometimes, in order to unclutter you must gather all the clutter into one space. With your clutter stacked up together, the task of truly purging will be less overwhelming—and unavoidable.
Months ago, I read Marie Kondo’s The Magical Art of Tidying Up . It seemed a little harsh and silly and reminded me of my Korean ex-relatives, but her book (taken with a North American grain of salt) makes sense. I recommend you borrow the book from your local library. Or, for a more local flavour, check out this post.
what does clutter have to do with a hard drive?
Good question. Basically, most of my writing is neatly compiled in my hard drive. It doesn’t look like clutter from the outside. But it sure does when I look at the files and folders on my desktop. Click on a folder and you have access to many more folders. Sort of like those gorgeous Russian Dolls. But it’s sooooo overwhelming. Where does one start?
from pixabay.com
And if you read my last post, you’ll remember that I told you that on April 1, I will start my 30-day CNF (Creative Nonfiction) blitz for Camp NaNoWriMo. See—doesn’t that seem contradictory? I just complained about my files and folders, yet I’m going to add 30 more? Let me explain.
My mind is sort of like those Russian dolls—now imagine a swarm of those multiplying every morning. There is so much clutter in my mind from the years I didn’t make the time to write. There are so many characters and stories and memories trapped inside my mind. No wonder I sometimes feel a little crazy—Cray-Ray. I also need to purge them from my mind, which adds clutter to my hard drive.
Where are you going with this, Rach?
Surprise, surprise—I’m taking another class! This one is called Polish Your Prose and Poems (PYPP) by Rachel Thompson. Although we are less than a week into the course, I can see it will be an excellent tool to help me tidy up the stories in my hard drive!
**If you’ve got material piling up in your “To Edit” folder or know of someone who does, you should let them know that there is self-help instruction out there. Okay, I’m done gushing.
The Plan
I’ve chosen one of my favourite essays for PYPP, and I am going to work through Rachel’s process. So far, after just one lesson, I’ve realized my essay is actually two related essays. I trust that what I learn in this class will allow me to “polish” my favourite essays and short stories and send them out into the world. Some of those pieces will be published here for you to read on my website. J I can’t think of a better way to set my stories free.
It’s clear that through the act of writing my writing is improving. It’s clear that I want to share my writing with the world. Thank you for your support of the fifteen months I’ve been live on the World Wide Web.
Decluttering feels amazing. Learning how to edit my own writing more effectively also feels amazing. This purge is going to leave my hard drive tidy and let me share my words with the world 🙂 What more could a writer ask for?
what’s in this For non-writers?
Figure out where your clutter is. If you don’t think you have any, look for places the “hidden” clutter might be (closets, under the bed, in the garage…in your relationships). We all have something we need to purge.
For a little inspiration, check out these past posts: