I’ve been starting to treat my writing like plants in a garden. Instead of forcing myself to finish a piece in one sitting, I write as much as I can, and then I put it to rest. I place the pieces of writing on a big wall and I wait for a couple days. Sometimes, for weeks, months, even years.

What I’m doing is creating a “Garden of Writing”. I have a space where each “flower” is easily accessible, and I can watch them over time, adding and rearranging ideas as I please.

I’ve noticed this works much better than having all my files crammed into the computer, because when my writing is all tucked away in a digital folder, it’s too easy to forget about them. And so they are left to wither and die like a flower left to grow in the darkest most loneliest part of the garden with no one to care for it.

Try it.

Treat your writing not like individual pieces, but like flowers in a garden.

Feed them over time. Care for them. Spend time with them every once in a while just as they are.

I’ve come to find that this approach is mutually beneficial to all my unfinished pieces. Though every individual “flower” is still a work in progress, by placing them together, they help one another grow taller and stronger. In effect, what you will have created is an entire ecosystem of written material that can almost write itself.

by Jason Lam