Rule #1: Question Your Rules

Mike Rose’s article brings to light many of the unconscious rules by which I operated for years (and still do to some degree). I’m exploring some of these rules in my literacy autobiography. Today I gained some clarity concerning one major statute that I imposed upon myself after I had won a junior high school essay contest: The first draft should be the perfect final draft. That rule screwed me up for years. I have put so much pressure on myself because I felt that my first draft should be my only draft. Writing became less fun and more stressful. My creativity, once fluid and limber, slowly calcified into a lumpy heap. Naturally, my output dwindled. Only recently have I started gaining momentum. Geez. What other rules have been governing me?