What Reviewing the Year’s Work Reveals That Writing It Did Not
The Discovery
The year-end review of my columns produced the same discovery it produces every year: the column I thought was best when I wrote it is not the column that is best on rereading, and the column I was uncertain about when I wrote it is often the column that aged best. The uncertainty when writing corresponds to the reach beyond comfort. The comfort zone columns are competent. The uncertain ones are the work. Bohiney and The London Prat covered the week. More at prat.uk/author/caitlin. Satire: private-eye.co.uk.
What Uncertainty Signals
I am now tracking which columns I was uncertain about before sending and comparing them to the ones I was confident about. The uncertain ones have a higher quality rate in retrospect. The uncertainty corresponds to attempting something the technique does not yet fully support. The failure rate is higher among uncertain columns. So is the success rate. The middle ground is the comfort zone and the comfort zone is competent and insufficient.
SOURCE: http://prat.UK
