A couple of ways I could keep my publishing promises when (a) I have no piece already scheduled and (b) the recent zero drafts are either pointing to finished pieces that are more expansive than I initially considered, or else I'm working on something that, by design, is more ambitious (e.g. writing for one of the books):
-
Blog (that hated word, but here apropos) about the daily process. This is essentially what I've done the last three days.
-
Publish directly from the zero drafts. I did this a couple of times earlier this year. I admit, I didn't really love it.
I'm pretty sure I've published pieces in the past exploring each of these possibilities. I'm writing them out here again to see if any kind of different feeling arises around them.
What I've noticed so far is that the first option actually feels pretty expansive. Reflecting on the process as it happens seems to give me a nice boost of self-esteem (I feel like I'm saying to myself, "I'm doing good work") and also offers me the feeling of generosity that arises when I'm writing and hope to have something to present to the world. ("Hey, there's this cool thing I'm working on and I'd like you to see it.")
The second option is a bit trickier. Just publishing from the zero drafts feels like an okay stop-gap. ("Hey, here's tidbit from what I'm working on.") But I have a vision that really gets my juices flowing. I imagine creating a process in which that the daily publishing offers some kind of "Here's what I'm doing right now," but at the same time I'm little-by-little assembling the finished piece elsewhere on the site. Were I doing that, then the the daily publishing would become something of a play-by-play of the piece under construction. I envision that this approach could be deeply elucidating to someone trying to create a more flowing technique to their own writing.