We write because it’s nice to look back and see proof that we existed in that moment. Old drafts are embarrassing, yes, but they are also little fossils of who we were. The jokes we thought were funny. The wounds we kept circling. The tropes we were obsessed with. The sentence we clearly thought was devastating because we used it twelve times. Looking back at old writing is like meeting a younger version of yourself who was trying so hard. Be kind to them.







