Raw drafts and the fear of people reading them

“Typing up old notebooks is a bit like injecting heroin into your eyeball — addictive, painful, and not very good for your eyes. Fun though!”

— James Garside

This was a list post. Back when I laboured under the false assumption that Medium was like a blog and that people read my work. It’s about as much fun as it sounds.

It wasn’t worth writing. It isn’t worth reading. I don’t even recommend listening to it now. But I’ve committed to reading everything that I published on Medium out loud at least once. If only to train the software before I’m cloned by AI and can go live on a beach somewhere whilst the robots write for me.

This piece is about the terror and strange joy of revisiting old notebooks. Or it would be if it was an actual piece and not a list post. Highlights include don’t be silly there are no highlights.

Writing is hard. This is what I’m saying.

This episode is brought to you by:

Nobody.

Links:

Original: Writer’s Notebook: Read Once and Destroy!

Substack: jamesgarside.substack.com

Medium: medium.com/@jamesgarside_

Youtube: www.youtube.com/@jamesgarside

Web: jamesgarside.net

Chapter 23 by James Garside. A regular series of irregular thoughts. Could be anything. Mostly rants. Warning: May contain traces of sarcasm. Chapter 23 is a multimedia project by James Garside. Journalist, Author, Writer. Part-time vagabond, full-time grumpy arse. Would you care for a cup of tea? I write about everything from art, culture, and politics to tech, travel, and the occult. Sometimes in ways that get me into trouble. I’m also funny — I probably should’ve led with that. I help writers and artists to do their best work. Let’s be part of each other’s stories. More at: jamesgarside.net

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