Redraft

The delete button is missing. Can’t find it anywhere. Am out of correction fluid and there are no erasers anywhere in the house. It’s not like I am looking for a blank sheet of paper or aiming for a complete white wash, it’d just be nice to fix a few things, that’s all.

Maybe I can just cross bits out. Of course, the mistakes will still be visible, but at least they’re acknowledged, fixed.

That long, long chapter that was adolescence has some poetic quality, but it’s too awkward, too lacking in punch. Be nice to give me a bit more confidence, in one or two areas, at least. A teen is not a teen without a little awkwardness afterall.

Those mid twenties saw a voice develop, but it was inconsistent and often shaky. Some editing, with a little hindsight, would straighten that all out.

Somethings, it would be nice to erase. There are a few tales that no one needs to hear. A few incidents it would be good to wipe away. Forget. Erase. Expunge.

Alas. There is no way to redraft entirely. It is fixed the moment ink touches paper. There is no delete and no clean sheets. There is only the past, the present, and the future.

The present is writing itself with the lessons learnt in the past. The future will be a draft crafted of the two. Of imperfections there will be plenty. And in this draft, deletion is impossible. Corrections can be attempted and improvements will be sought. In this vein, the story will keep writing itself, aiming for that unattainable finished draft.