Trust the Mess: Writing When You Don’t Know Where You’re Going

Every writer has a drawer — literal or digital — full of unfinished work.

Half-drafted poems. Novel scenes that felt alive, then didn’t. Stories with strong openings that sputtered out mid-paragraph. We stash them away like clutter in the back of a creative closet, unsure if they’re failures, compost, or seeds waiting to bloom.

If this sounds familiar: good. It means you’re doing the work.

At 724 Press Collective, we believe the creative process isn’t linear. It doesn’t march from idea to outline to first draft to glorious publication. More often, it loops. It stutters. It leaps sideways. It tangles itself in feelings and memory and voice before finding its rhythm again. And sometimes, it stops altogether — not because we lack talent, but because we’ve mistaken the pause for a dead end.

So this is your reminder: it’s okay to be lost in your writing.

In fact, being lost can be part of the process.

🌀 The Myth of Knowing Exactly What You’re Doing

There’s a pressure in writing culture — especially online — to always have clarity: a perfect writing routine, a book proposal with “market fit,” a clear genre lane. But many of the best works of literature began with uncertainty. The writing didn’t start out whole — it started out honest. Messy. Awkward. Vulnerable.

At our recent Writers Brunch & Workshop in Austin, one participant asked:
“How do I know if something is worth finishing?”

That’s a powerful question — and an impossible one to answer from the outside. But here’s another way to ask it:
“Is this piece still speaking to me?”

If the answer is yes — even in a whisper — that’s enough to keep going.

✨ Your Draft is Not a Verdict

Sometimes we abandon a piece because we’re afraid it’s not good enough. But that fear often comes from judging the draft as if it’s the final version. Your early writing is supposed to feel clunky. It’s scaffolding, not architecture. It’s paint on the palette, not the canvas.

Instead of asking, “Is this good?”
Try asking:

• What is this trying to become?

• What am I avoiding saying in this draft?

• What scares me about this piece — and what might happen if I write through that?

These are questions for the writer, not the editor. Your inner editor can wait. Right now, let the chaos breathe.

🔄 Revision is Re-Vision

At 724, we love the phrase: “Rewrite the rewrite.” Not to frustrate you — but to liberate you. Revision isn’t about fixing what’s broken. It’s about seeing with new eyes. It’s about listening again.

One of our favorite exercises from the workshop was rewriting the same paragraph in multiple voices: serious, humorous, formal, absurd. Every rewrite revealed something new — not just about the characters, but about the writer behind the voice.

Don’t be afraid to start over. Not because you failed — but because you’ve grown since you wrote that first draft. Let your writing evolve with you.

🌱 A Final Thought: Keep the Door Open

If nothing else, remember this: You don’t need to know where the piece is going. You just need to stay in the room with it.

Even five minutes a day — one sentence, one note to yourself in the margin — keeps the door open between you and your creative self. And that’s the door where all good writing walks through.

So here’s your permission slip to return to the weird draft, the wild poem, the impossible story.

Not because it’s polished.

But because it’s yours.