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Image from http://www.poorfrankraw.co.uk/blog/whatliesbeneath.html
Scratchpads can be paper or digital or foggy shower glass or a patch of hard dirt. Keep a Cutting Room Floor section at the end of your writing drafts, to encourage yourself to cut the finished result down to its finest bones without losing what couldn’t stay (this time).
I draft my writing in Obsidian, and have [[cutting room floor]] as a tag page at the end of each file. Clicking on that link creates a file that looks empty, until you check the backlinks! Then you’ll see all your loose treasures in one rich and inspiring list.
This is your invitation to keep a scratchpad of your own; a place you can write or draw free from thoughts about how it looks or sounds.
If you’re already in the scratchpad habit, go back through some of your past pages and look for a gem to pull out and make into a note in your knowledge management system. Here’s one of mine:
What gems are waiting to be rediscovered in your scratchpad, or on your cutting room floor? Go find them!
See also Don’t Go Fully Paperless if You Hope to Leave a Lasting Legacy
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