⧉ Making space for chaos
Welcome to the fifth issue of OVERLAP ⧉

Making space for chaos
I recently wrote an article with a new collaborator, and after it was published, we talked about what went well and what we want to adjust in the future. I love how these casual post-mortem conversations can uncover surprising insights, and this one was especially good.
My writing and editing “process” is difficult to document or duplicate, and I’ve always felt like that’s a bad thing. Wouldn’t it be more efficient to follow the same step-by-step guide each time we want to produce an article? Apparently not! In this case, the inevitable chaos didn’t just make the article better; it made the article possible in the first place. By operating within a loose outline for as long as possible, we were able to test and refine ideas without spending precious time on crafting prose. It gave us space to think, and in the end, the story was better than if we’d tried to polish it earlier.
In most of my work, I’m trying to bring order and clarity to something that’s difficult to explain. Some pieces come together in a matter of days; some take weeks or even months. But it’s only possible to write quickly if we’ve been thinking about the idea for a long time. If we’re working out our thoughts on the page, the page is bound to get messy. The chaos — the question, the revision, the tear-down, the wrong direction — is the only way to get to the right story. Clarity is the end goal, but the chaos is what gets you there.
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The fourth issue of this newsletter was about two different workshops I attended. Are there writing or storytelling workshops you would recommend to people who are not writers? Friends and colleagues have asked me for suggestions, and I’d like to compile a list.
I’d love to hear what you think — reply to this email or send a note through my website. You can also forward this to a friend or two and invite them to subscribe. All the archives are online, if you’ve missed any previous transmissions.
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Auntie Jess recommends:
Cleaning your glasses and your phone screen! I tricked my office into buying these lens wipes in bulk.
Several short sentences about writing. “There are no rules, only experiments.” This book by Verlyn Klinkenborg is poetic and profound.
Strange Planet. This series of comics by Nathan W. Pyle fills me with delight.
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Thanks for reading. I’d love to hear from you — hit reply to share your favorite writing books, alien jokes, antibacterial obsessions, or anything else that’s on your mind.
Until next time,
Jessica
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