Medium Story “Drafts” — How Many Do You Have?

What do you do with incomplete or nearly complete entries that have been long-sitting in your Medium “drafts” folder? How long do you let your drafts sit, and why? How many drafts do you have right now?

I have twelve Medium story drafts — twelve unfinished pieces in my Medium “stories” folder — and some have been patiently waiting for nearly two years! My list of drafts is below, along with a brief description of each.

Honestly, this post is a personal kick in the pants. Maybe it will inspire you, as it has me, to go back and read through your drafts. You might realize the good and forgotten stuff just waiting to see daylight! I did.

When a moment of inspiration hits — it could be a dream, or a phrase that grabs me (“I’ll come back to this later and write a masterpiece!”), or an idea I want to dig into someday — I create a draft. Some drafts are emotional — feelings I needed to just put somewhere and maybe someday come back to, and others are merely a jumble of words I planned to revisit. On a few nearly complete entries, I’ve just avoided clicking “publish” (should I really publish that??). And, as many of you on this platform know, it’s tough to share our vulnerabilities.

Clicking “publish” is like sending a child off to camp. You hope that what you’re finally sharing with the rest of the world will be enjoyed, make an impact, and isn’t misunderstood or damaging to you or anyone else.

Here are my drafts, newest to oldest. Which of these would you like to see me complete, and why?

DRAFT #1 is called, “I am ashamed.” It’s a fully written poem, save for a few edits (or maybe a complete rewrite; fellow authors, you know). But… It’s one that I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready to click “publish.” The title says it all.

DRAFT #2: “Do You Believe?” So far, it contains five words: “Rotated Risen Confrontation Consternation Communication.” Feel free to take these words and make them your own. I’d love to see what you come up with!

DRAFT #3: “Tip of the Iceberg” — this one is a letter about politics and family. Therefore, I’ll probably leave it in my drafts folder indefinitely because that’s so not my wheelhouse or general vibe. But if you’re from the US like I am and haven’t written in some form or another about US politics in the past eight years, well, you’re in deeper avoidance mode than I’ve been.

DRAFT #4: “I had a dream — an angry, frightened, defeated, defiant man stood in the doorway…” (it doesn’t have a title yet). It was an actual dream. It included a group of us in a hostage scenario and a description of my thoughts while it happened. There would be trigger warnings on this, for sure. It’s not polished.

DRAFT #5: “He Always Wanted” is a poem that already has artwork (created through the Wonder app), but is still not ready for medium consumption. It’s about my yin-yang relationship with my husband — a comparison between our very different personalities and views of life. I’ll keep you posted.

DRAFT #6: “I Shrug” starts with, “I will never understand him/but that’s okay./It has to be.” It’s another relationship poem. As I re-read it, this one made my heart pitter-patter.

Side Note 1: I’ve been with my partner for — OMG — this year (2024) will make FORTY YEARS, so there’s a lot of looking back in my writings about our naivete, our mistakes, our incredible accomplishments, the generational trauma, our cultural differences, the teamwork, the continued patterns we can only now see in hindsight, our creativity, how we essentially raised each other, and the challenges to breaking our deeply ingrained bad habits. Oh yeah, and the incredible love we have for each other.

DRAFT #7: “Believe me, I’d rather stay home, he said” is another one I’m not ready to share with the world. Because the fantasy of leaving is sometimes just that — a fantasy, and I wouldn’t want this to become one of my misunderstood camp children.

DRAFT #8: “No Power” is a poem about what happens when the electricity goes out in our neighborhood — or maybe the city. It’s from a grown-up homeowner’s fearful perspective; not yet complete. Maybe I’ll turn it into a thriller short story…

DRAFT #9: “Circles” begins with “I’m stuck in this mud./Then I’m not./Is mud a state of mind?” Truly a stream-of-consciousness poem. I’m kinda proud of where this one is going.

DRAFT #10: “Please Don’t Look Away” is a desperate conversation/poem in my head about waking up and seeing myself in the mirror next to our bed. It still needs something.

Side Note 2: I’m surprising myself at how near to completion many of these drafts are! Who knew? Not me, until I decided to write this post.

DRAFT #11: No title yet. “It is that moment/The moment when my mind accepts/I am no longer a creator./I have become the prey./ I have been swallowed…” This one is very incomplete, but could go in so many directions, right?? Give me your ideas.

And finally…

DRAFT #12: “This Issue of Daddy.” Written nearly two years ago, this one will likely never see the light of day. I’m only putting it here to give at least some voice to my dark words. My goodness, this one is messy. It starts with, “A letter to the man to whom I’m genetically and maybe slightly emotionally connected, and the feelings that arise as this letter progresses.” Somewhere near the middle of the letter I say, “I think I’m trying to work through whatever feelings I have by hearing your voice before you die [That’s hard for me to read out loud. But I’m here to be true to myself, filters be gone].” I actually include a P.S. at the end of this draft that says, “The unwritten letter to my stepdad (he left when I was 10) would make for a good one-two follow-up some day!” So maybe one day I’ll change my mind about publishing this letter. Maybe.

There you have it. Twelve work-in-progress drafts of varying sizes, styles, and shapes. Please comment, clap and highlight away!

On a related note, here’s another Medium post about writing, and about being the actual work in progress:

And here’s a post that, as a GenXer, really hit home:

Thank you for reading! Follow me for more poetry, essays, and stories!

Please support my authorship by leaving all the CLAPS for this post. Send me comments and highlight the parts that inspire you. Consider buying me a coffee. If you want to know more about my writing, the list of all my (published!) posts can be found here — Deana K Rodriguez on Medium — or visit my “about” page here. I hope to see you again soon!