The Writing Tool for When You Are Stuck

There are a lot of writing tools out there. Do we really need another one?

Yes. Yes, we do. Well, at least, I do. I can't really speak for you.

Yes, I do. There. That's more accurate. I needed another writing tool.

Why did I need another writing tool?

Because all the other ones out there suck. Just kidding. There are some great writing tools out there. How do I know that? Because people are using them to write. If a tool is helping a writer to write, it is a great writing tool. It is doing it's job. It is helping someone make progress on their work.

So why did I need another writing tool? Because the ones out there were not working for me. They were not helping me make progress on my writing.

Okay, but were you really just procrastinating?

Yes, a lot of the things that block us as writers are internal. But, as I struggled, I started to wonder if the writing tools I was using were contributing to this block rather than helping to alleviate it.

Why didn't the other tools work?

They were not created with my inner critic in mind. They were created as a one stop shop for writing, editing, spell check, grammar check, formatting, etc. They were created to do a lot of different jobs, from a high school student writing a book report to a PhD candidate composing a thesis. They were created to deliver everything needed to create a final draft. Because of this, they have a lot of features. A lot of features that are unnecessary when writing a first draft. A lot of features that are distracting when writing a first draft.

Does Draft replace other writing tools?

Draft replaces whatever tool a person uses when they are stuck.

The main writing tool Draft replaces for me is paper. Paper is what I used to turn to when I was trying to get out a first draft and didn't want to get distracted. Paper worked really well for this, but it was slow and if I ended up writing something I liked, I then had to type it up. This drained a lot of energy and motivation.

Draft is a tool that augments the others. When words are flowing and everything is making sense, I reach for a different tool.

So who is Draft for? When is it useful?

Draft is for the writer who is stuck, the writer who doesn't want to open their writing program because it all feels too overwhelming, the writer paralyzed by fear that what they create isn't going to be good enough. 

Draft helps me to drop into the place where the inner critic is silent and the creative voices spring forth.