How many drafts do you have in your WordPress folder?

One?

Five?

Ten?

More than that?

Do you know how many drafts I have in my WordPress draft folders?

Three.

My Waking folder has one draft with pictures I took on my ipad during the past week because I found it’s easier to import pictures if I add them into a fake post using gallery. At some point today I will delete it and then I will have zero drafts in that folder.

I am working on a post for someone else’s blog- I do have two working drafts of the same piece because I’m trying to figure out what opening works best and I’m still mulling this over, but I consider this to be the reason why there is a draft folder- because one is thinking of different ways to explore the exact same topic. I may do five more drafts, but it is the exact same story…I’m just presenting the idea differently. And these drafts have an expiration date…I know that in a week or so one of them is going to make it to the finish line as a post…

Those of you with draft folders- how many different ideas do you have in there? I could use the same numbering system, but you get the drift…But how many different ideas are you turning over in your head?

Do you ever intend to write the posts that accompany the drafts in your folder?

I know. I’m going back on a decluttering binge. I’m telling you to empty out the drawers of your WordPress site…

Clutter is clutter, whether it resides on your shelves or resides in your head.

Is having a bunch of drafts in your folder making you a better blogger? A better writer?

Or does seeing the number of drafts bring you down?

Is it just messing with your writing energy?

If you want to get all pop psychology…what is stopping you from writing those posts? Why are you hesitant to tell those stories?

A draft folder shouldn’t be a diary or a journal. If you have things that you need to get out on paper, by all means do it. Writing can be cathartic- it can be a great way of getting all your emotions out on a page in a healthy manner. And if that’s the reason that you have all those drafts, just move them someplace else…

I know. I’ve become the draft folder dictator. I’m telling you how you should keep your draft folder. Am I right to tell you how to live your life?

Of course not.

I’m just looking for more people to be like me, with few drafts in the folder. I often feel like I’m the only person with no drafts hanging out. I’d like more members of my club.

So for today’s assignment I want you to look at your draft folder- consider it spring cleaning now that March has arrived. Write the post if you love the idea. Delete it if you hate it. Move it if it’s important to you but know that it will never see the light of day.

Ask yourself why it’s sitting there…

And here is the next podcast- How excited are you?!

128 thoughts on “Draft Pick”

    1. I started thinking about this when some of my blog friends posted about the rather large amount of drafts they had. I sort on had a mini breakdown at the thought if that many unwritten posts so I had to write about it

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  3. My draft folder is all garbage and nothing useful and also one post I unpublished because years later i revisited it and realized it no longer reflected my views and I didn’t want it on my site. I need to clean out the folder.

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  5. I tend to keep my ideas in my journal until I am ready to work on the post. Right now I have zero post in my WordPress drafts.

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  6. Zero drafts. I would assume many writers use the draft folder extensively though, rather full posts sit there or even just incomplete ideas. Is it not the same concept as keeping notebooks, and if so should those be gone through regularly and tossed as well? I can’t help but consider historians and archivists views on this. Think of how many now passed but famous writers who kept notes and drafts, no matter what format they were in. I suppose I sort of liken all that deleting as removing what might be historical insight some day, even if it’s insight only for family or friends. Although perhaps they could care less…

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    1. I figure like this…I git this idea because a bunch of blog friends wrote about how much was in their folder. And all were having some sort of block. Deleting doesn’t mean off the face of the earth. It could mean moving them. When you’re actively trying to work, if it’s staring you in the face every day, is it better or worse for you?

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  8. I am the draft queen. I write posts then decide not to share that info because it’s not relevant or because it’s so dreary or …. Sometimes I have drafts that are about general divorce, parenting or #womanofacertainage topics and I write down the idea and go back to it later. I don’t delete many of them because they tell a story even though they’re in the drafts folder.

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    1. I get it. As long as they don’t get you down it’s fine. It’s when we use drafts as a crutch or avoidance I think it becomes a problem. Just read your post btw. Excellent!

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      1. Thank you for the inspiration! I hope you don’t mind that I piggybacked on your post, but I wanted to talk about it because it’s a great subject! I hope the link to yours worked.

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  9. Pingback: Draft Queen | Authentically 50 ~ Embracing Life's Changes

  10. I have 7. They are great ideas about enjoying your kids when they are young which I have no time to write because I’m enjoying my kids while they are young. Oh, and because in-person school has been cancelled for a year… Can I have an exception? 🙂

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    1. Hmmmm….let me think about that…of course! I line in the sand is 10. I think ten drafts or less is acceptable. More than ten? But to be fair….I give you so much credit for getting anything down!!

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  14. I produce blog posts for three different sites – general, life coaching & fiction, so tend to produce blog posts in batches. My drafts folder is the place I keep ideas, for I already have WAY too many notebooks 😀 As I only have 2 scheduled posts for my general site and 0 on my life coaching sites, that’s where my focus will go next. I rarely write & hit publish immediately. I write, I edit, I sleep on it, I edit some more, then usually it gets scheduled. Nothing lurks in there for long though – I’m pretty brutal about clearing stuff out.

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  15. I have 56 half finished or part finished posts in my draft folder, probably says more about me…..like I’m lazy? Some are in my opinion acceptable but the majority will never see the light of day.

    ………… However several are sexually 😂inappropriate which is rich coming from me.

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  18. I stopped keeping all drafts of everything when a computer breathed its last a few years back, and it took 3 days to retrieve all my files from my cloud-based backup system. Much of that 3 days was due to keeping every draft of every project I’ve worked on for ages. No more.

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  19. I have two. Why? Because, while they reflect my position and thoughts about our super-charged culture crisis, I’m not sure they are where they need to be yet. Sometimes when I re-read them, it sounds a bit knee-jerky. So I sit on them until a cooler head prevails. My One Word for 2021 is Choices, so I’m focusing on making sure my choices in what I think and write are well-thought out and a fair assessment of what I see happening. Since we live in such an emotional-driven society, it’s probably a given that whatever I post will offend someone. 😜

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      1. My son introduced me to Newton for email. It organizes my incoming mail for me into the main inbox, newsletters and social. You get a reward for having zero emails in your inbox with a compliment and graphic. I try to have an empty inbox every day.

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      3. I like Newton because I can click through my emails and send them to the “archive” folder to look at later. Or hit delete or file them away in my labeled folders.

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      7. I’m telling you..it feels great for some weird reason. I’ve started deleting pics on my phone while I watch TV at night..I started with all the samples n such I’ve snapped photos of over the years..flooring, paint, tile, fabrics, appliances…HUNDREDS! –ZAP ZAP ZAP..gone, gone, gone..it’s like a video game.

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  22. I’m in your club!
    I don’t keep drafts. I either write or trash.
    If I can get a thought to go somewhere I end up liking, it’ll become a post. If I can’t, it’s trash.
    If I can’t get my thoughts to hatch enough to write them, I don’t believe y’all should be subjected to them.
    Honestly, the draft folder makes me anxious. I don’t want a bunch of partially hatched thoughts cluttering up the space.
    That freaks me out! Then I go on a cleaning spree to regain the feeling of control which is a screaming hot mess that nobody needs.
    That little virtual garbage can is my friend.

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  23. Haha! I’ll never be like you, even though I try. I’m a disorganized mess. I have MANY Drafts. I just change my mind sometimes. Other times I decide this isn’t the right time to post that thought. But mostly I get interrupted and forget I even started it. Don’t you wish you were me ?!

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  24. WTH? When did you start a podcast??? This is perfect and just the right amount of minutes. Your voice sounds almost exactly as I’d imagine it. I LOVE IT!

    And thanks for that explanation lol I was like what’s going on here, but I also don’t like to bother people during their creative phase.

    To answer the question, I don’t do drafts in the WP folder, but I do have 148 notes on my phone, which are mini drafts of what I plan to write for Monday Notes…I mean that’s not so bad, right?

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    1. I’m all for notes and ideas. I wonder abut draft folders though. If you like the topic enough to start a post, why not finish it? And I get not being ready to publish, but how many posts can you be thinking about at a time? Anyone can have their process, but when does it cease being process and become procrastination or inertia?

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      2. I do that for my own blog. I sit down, type and publish. I’m getting fancy for you because I don’t care if I crash and burn on my blog, but I don’t want to do it in yours

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    2. Oh…and yeah…for your blog I know what I want the end of the post to be…but I’m trying to come up with a clear beginning….I’m getting there…😉and thanks on podcast feedback. Thought it would be fun to try!

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  27. I write them as I use them, so no extra drafts, my sister has been harping on me for years to have one draft saved in case I don’t have time to write, but I can’t seem to do it. I write about what’s happening in real time so having something saved seems like cheating. C

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  29. This post is one of the reasons I love your blog. Okay, ready? Prior to your post, I had 52 drafts in my drafts folder. Now? There are 8. Hahaha! All, sans 1 or 2, will be scheduled in the next couple of weeks. Nice post, LA.

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  31. I have seven drafts and I’ll go in there to peruse because I oftentimes can cull from those loose thoughts. LOVE the podcast idea. And yes The Little Things was just okay but Leto, he knocked it out of the park.

    Sorry, not to be a dick. But get my order wrong once, okay. Twice? I dunno . . .

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    1. You probably need to have some sort of app. Supposedly I’m on Google podcast forum and anchor. But alas you do need some sort of app. Try going to my actual site and maybe you can have play option

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  34. I find myself often deleting the drafts in my Word Press because I end up writing about that idea in a slightly different way, so then they’re not relevant anymore. And it’s fun to hear your podcasts!

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  35. I have 15 drafts. The majority of them are tags that I’ve been tagged to do and will do eventually. I used to take screen shots of the tag posts I was tagged in but I couldn’t stand all the clutter on my phone which is why I went ahead and made drafts for them. I also have a draft that I will be sharing at the end of the year and will be adding to every month until I post it. I then have a draft of all of the physical books I own. I put it on WordPress because it will be easier to update it throughout the year.

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    1. There are certain housekeeping drafts I totally get. If you add to them, then it’s a great tool. It’s the posts that are never going to get the light if day. How many do we need?

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  36. You aren’t the Only one, but maybe there are just 2 of us! LOL! I don’t write ahead, I just don’t. Not a planner, which isn’t always a good thing, but I have a clean draft folder. LOL!

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  38. I have 15 drafts in my draft folder. I write ahead, as I’m usually researching a topic and I might work on it intermittently, over several days. I might do the writing part and then later on in the week add the pictures, and then edit it a day or two after that. I only post once a week, so my blog is different and more planned, ie not so much off the top of my head. I sometimes use it as a planner ie I have the four (titles only) of the topics I want to blog on in March, and some older ones I never got to because of COVID, like the fall fair, but I leave them there as it’s a reminder for next year, or some time when I’m out of ideas. I usually have more ideas than time to blog about them. I would never let it get much over 20 though, as I do go back and trash some of them if I decide I’m never going to do it.

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    1. Small numbers, when you’re using it as a planner I think is ok. It’s when you just toss things in. You have to ask yourself what’s the purpose behind this

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      1. I’m not a toss-things in kind of gal! So yes, I guess I’m kind of using my draft folder as a planner, since I don’t actually use/have a planner. Well I have an actual paper file folder where I toss in notes or articles or news clippings etc for future use, and each season I will go through it and pull some out which suit the time of year.

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      2. I write ideas in my planner, but I don’t actually write a post until the morning I publish. Sometimes if I’m doing charts etc, I do do those in advance because they take longer, but I don’t put them in draft. I schedule them

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      4. I think it helps that I write about ideas I’m fascinated about. Once I get the thought in my head it just flows out. I wish I could be like that in everything

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  45. Great reminder , I have around 15 drafts at any point. Possibly 3-4 of these may never see the light. But use these as a live notepad, to keep working on topics as I usually try to stick to atleast one or two posts a month.

    But worth a revisit to declutter like you said.

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  46. There are very few if any drafts in my WP accts or anywhere else. That’s because I procrastinate so much re so many things. That’s not to say that I don’t have ideas. If anything I have way too many of them. Those are the “drafts” I store in organized folders but never get to because I’m spending my time adding more, as if I needed them.

    I found and kept a free webinar by life hacks academy re 5 different procrastination personality types. I fit pretty clearly into at least 4 of them! Of course they want to sell me a course to help me stop procrastinating but I’m way too smart, or lazy, or uncommitted, to fall for that trope!

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  47. Pingback: Words Matter – A Grace Full Life

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