34 Draft Posts

I like to capture ideas for posts as there are so many that flitter through my brain. I’m prompted by what I read on a blog, or in an article, or by something that someone mentions in passing, or a random life event.

I have 34 drafts, 34 posts started with a few paragraphs and thoughts rapidly dumped into Ulysses —my writing app of choice— where I’ll tend to let my brain guide me as I write. That means a post that starts off with one thought can meander to another —I’m sure you have noticed this, dear reader— and sometimes I can follow that through to completion, other times I trail off and have to pause to reflect and….

So yeah, I have a lot of draft posts.

Previously, if I got an idea for a post I added it as a Reminder, with any link or quick thought added to a note there. I then used an Apple Shortcut to ‘push’ a random one at me every Thursday in the hope that I could then focus on it anew and write it out in complete form, ready to be published.

That system worked for a while until around the start of the year when —as previously mentioned— focussed on this site in both design and content. Now I find myself writing almost complete posts in one go, and thus I’ve turned to creating a new item in Ulysses straight away so I can capture whatever thoughts/links/commentary I have in front of me.

It turns out this is a far better way to capture my thoughts —letting my brain run loose as soon as I have the idea for a post — than trying to summarise my thinking into a Title and brief note. I only realised this on Thursday past when I got my Reminder notification and realised that the idea I had previously added to Reminders was, now, of little interest to me and I couldn’t find any inspiration or desire to continue to write it.

I have now moved all those Reminders into Ulysses, and deleted the Shortcut that grabbed a random idea for me, as it appears I have plenty. In fact 34 draft posts is far too many.

I posit all this as I am in the midst of trying to polish a few drafts ready to be scheduled ahead of disappearing up into the Highlands of Scotland for a week or so soon. A place of beauty but varying internet connection, a much needed break away with family, our motorhome, a beach and (one can only hope) some sunshine.

Yet here I sit at 7am on a Sunday morning, procrastinating about how many draft posts I have waiting to be completed and the way I used to manage this process, all whilst writing a brand new post.

Twas ever thus.